Testing the sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis: A prospective longitudinal birth cohort study

The sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis posits that persons, especially males, who are sexually abused as children are at particular risk of sexually abusing others later in life. We tested this hypothesis by prospectively examining associations between maltreatment and offending in a birth cohort of 38,282 males with a maltreatment history and/or at least one finalized offense. We examined these associations within the context of the wider birth population. Proportionally few boys were the subject of official notifications for sexual abuse (14.8% of maltreated boys, and 1.4% of the birth population); proportionally very few of these sexually abused boys (3%) went on to become sexual offenders; and, contrary to findings typically reported in retrospective clinical studies, proportionally few sexual offenders (4%) had a confirmed history of sexual abuse. Poly-victimization (exposure to multiple types of maltreatment) was significantly associated with sexual offending, violent offending, and general (nonsexual, nonviolent) offending. We found no specific association between sexual abuse and sexual offending, and nor did we find any association between sexual abuse and sexual offending specifically within the poly-victimized group. The total number of sexual abuse notifications did make a small unique contribution to the variance in sexual offending compared to other offending. Implications concerning maltreated boys and male sexual offenders are discussed.     

Risk factors for the perpetration of child sexual abuse: a review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: Since the late 1980s, there has been a strong theoretical focus on psychological and social influences of perpetration of child sexual abuse. This paper presents the results of a review and meta-analysis of studies examining risk factors for perpetration of child sexual abuse published since 1990. METHOD: Eighty-nine studies published between 1990 and April of 2003 were reviewed. Risk factors were classified into one of the following six broad categories: family factors, externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, social deficits, sexual problems, and attitudes/beliefs. Sex offenders against children (SOC) were compared to three comparison groups identified within the 89 studies: sex offenders who perpetrated against adults (SOA), non-sex offenders, and non-offenders with no history of criminal or sexual behavior problems. RESULTS: Results for the six major categories showed that SOC were not different from SOA (all d between -.02 and .14) other than showing lower externalizing behaviors (d=-.25). Sex offenders against children were somewhat different from non-sex offenders, especially with regard to sexual problems and attitudes (d=.83 and .51). Sex offenders against children showed substantial differences from non-offenders with medium sized effects in all six major categories (d's range from .39 to .58). CONCLUSION: Child sex offenders are different from non-sex offenders and non-offenders but not from sex offenders against adults. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study suggests that the presence of general risk factors may lead to a variety of negative behavioral outcomes, including the perpetration of child sexual offending. Family factors were strongly related to the perpetration of child sex offending (vs. non-sexual offending or non-offending) and may be valuable intervention points for interrupting the development of child sex offending, as well as other negative behaviors. Other potential points for intervention may focus on the development of appropriate social and emotional skills that contribute to sexual offending.     

Trauma changes everything: Examining the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious,violent and chronic juvenile offenders

Among juvenile offenders, those who commit the greatest number and the most violent offenses are referred to as serious, violent, and chronic (SVC) offenders. However, current practices typically identify SVC offenders only after they have committed their prolific and costly offenses. While several studies have examined risk factors of SVCs, no screening tool has been developed to identify children at risk of SVC offending. This study aims to examine how effective the adverse childhood experiences index, a childhood trauma-based screening tool developed in the medical field, is at identifying children at higher risk of SVC offending. Data on the history of childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, criminal behavior, and other criminological risk factors for offending among 22,575 delinquent youth referred to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice are analyzed, with results suggesting that each additional adverse experience a child experiences increases the risk of becoming a serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offender by 35, when controlling for other risk factors for criminal behavior. These findings suggest that the ACE score could be used by practitioners as a first-line screening tool to identify children at risk of SVC offending before significant downstream wreckage occurs.     

Cognitive distortions and blame attribution in sex offenders against adults and children

OBJECTIVE: Sexual offenders tend to hold attitudes and beliefs which minimize and justify their offending behavior. It was hypothesized that distorted thinking supporting sexual offending and blame attribution would differ depending on the offence characteristics of different groups of sexual offenders. METHOD: Two groups of sexual offenders separated on the basis of the age of their victims (sex offenders against children, 36; sex offenders against adults, 30) were compared on measures of cognitive distortions relating to sex with children and rape and a measure of blame attribution which assesses external, mental element, and guilt feeling attributions. RESULTS: Child sexual offenders endorsed more cognitive distortions relating to sex with children, but there were no group differences in cognitive distortions relating to rape. Those who offended against adults reported more external attributions and child offenders reported more guilt feeling attributions. Mental element attribution related to alcohol intoxication and use of violence in the offence, but was not related to group differences. CONCLUSIONS: Results are interpreted as suggesting that child sex offenders support their offending by more enduring distorted cognitions, while those who offend against adults use blame attributions associated with the particular offence.     

College in the media: the relationship between repeated exposure and college expectations

Media consumption can influence viewer perceptions and attitudes. Recent research on media’s effect on college students has failed to address gender differences. Using Mere Repeated Exposure Theory (traditionally used in marketing research), this study aims to answer three research questions regarding college media consumption and college perceptions: What types of fictional college media do college students consume? How does college media consumption differ by gender? How does fictional college media consumption relate to perceived college expectations? Results suggest that college students who consume high amounts of fictional college media are more likely to have positive attitudes towards partying and socializing in college. High consumers of college media, however, do not believe that college media influences their college perceptions. Men are more likely to socialize in college and are more aware than women that college media influences their college perceptions. Women are more likely to believe that college is difficult regardless of media consumption.     

Violent offenders in a deaf prison population

Previous research suggested an unexplained difference in the patterns of offending behaviors among deaf people when compared to hearing people. This study, conducted in Texas, compares the incidence and types of violent offenses of a deaf prison population in comparison to the hearing prison population. Sixty-four percent of deaf prisoners were incarcerated for violent offenses in comparison to 49% of the overall state prison offender population. This finding is consistent with previous research. The most significant difference between the populations was found in the category of sexual assault, which represented 32.3% of deaf offenders in contrast to 12.3% of hearing state prison inmates overall. Factors potentially impacting violent offending by deaf persons are their vulnerability to child sexual abuse, use of chemicals, educational histories, and development of language and communication skills. Additionally, there is a widespread lack of accessible intervention and treatment services available to deaf sex offenders across the nation.     

Childhood sexual victimization,pedophilic interest,and sexual recidivism

Objective

The goal of the current study was to examine the extent to which child sexual abuse (CSA) and particular characteristics of CSA are associated with pedophilic interest and sexual recidivism.

Methods

Subjects were 462 adult male sexual offenders who had been incarcerated in Canadian federal prisons.

Results

Compared to sexual offenders who had not been sexually abused, those who had been sexually abused before age 16 sexually offended against significantly younger victims and had significantly more indicators of pedophilic interest. This was the case whether we examined self-reported or officially documented CSA. Offenders who had been sexually abused exclusively by a male had significantly more indicators of pedophilic interest than those who had been sexually abused exclusively by a female. These findings are consistent with past research and theory suggesting that CSA may play a role in pedophilia and sexual offending against children. CSA exclusively by a female abuser predicted higher rates of sexual recidivism than abuse by a male or both a male and female abuser. Among offenders with victims 15 years old or younger, a closer relationship between offender and abuser predicted higher rates of sexual recidivism. The relationship between CSA and sexual recidivism was significantly moderated by actuarial risk. More specifically, CSA predicted higher rates of sexual recidivism among higher risk offenders, but CSA did not predict sexual recidivism among lower risk offenders. This novel finding raises the possibility that CSA may play a role in sexual recidivism for some offenders.

Conclusion

If future research replicates this CSA by risk interaction and identifies the constructs and processes involved, CSA may be worth considering in risk assessment and treatment.     

Intimations of the 21st Century

By happenstance rather than design, what began as a single study intended to refute the validity of student ratings of instruction turned into a 30-year quest into the nature of college teaching. Although I found that student ratings can be affected by seemingly extraneous variables such as instructor reputation, I quickly realized that the validity issue was not as simple as it first appeared, raising further questions such as: Was the student ratings questionnaire used in my study valid to begin with? Is instructor reputation simply a nuisance variable, even though it affects the validity of student ratings? Are students seduced by instructor reputation only under certain conditions? and so on. Oddly enough, a number of researchers, including myself, initially became interested in studying college teaching by attempting to demonstrate the invalidity of student ratings despite a research.     

Transitions and turning points revisited: A replication to explore child maltreatment and youth offending links within and across Australian cohorts

In this study we examined the consistency of life-course child maltreatment trajectories and youth offending links across birth cohorts. In so doing we demonstrated the value of replication studies for maltreatment research. We applied the methodology of Stewart et al. (2008) and linked population-based (1990 birth cohort) child protection and youth justice administrative data from Queensland, Australia. We performed a group based trajectory analysis to identify distinct maltreatment trajectory groups distinguishable by maltreatment timing and frequency across the life-course. We explored group-based youth offending outcomes with consideration of variations in maltreatment chronicity, timing, and frequency, multi-type maltreatment, gender and race (Indigenous Australian versus non-Indigenous Australian youths). To determine the consistency of maltreatment trajectories and offending links across cohorts (1983/84 versus 1990) we compared our results with those of Stewart et al. (2008). Consistent with Stewart et al. (2008): (1) We identified six distinct maltreatment trajectory groups; (2) Trajectory groups characterised by chronic maltreatment and/or adolescent maltreatment had the largest proportion of young offenders; and (3) Maltreatment frequency commonly peaked at transition points. Extending beyond Stewart et al. (2008) we noted considerable overlap between maltreatment dimensions and a potential impact of race and multi-type maltreatment on maltreatment and offending links. We endorse replication studies as a valuable tool to advance child maltreatment policy and practice and recommend further research on interactions between maltreatment dimensions, gender, race, and youth offending.     

A social learning theory comparison of the sexual victimization of adolescent sexual offenders and nonsexual offending male delinquents

OBJECTIVE: This paper tests hypotheses based on Garland and Dougher's (1990) formulation of the "victim to victimizer" relationship which is a social learning theory etiological approach to adolescent sexual offending. METHOD: Two hundred sixteen adolescent sexually victimized sexual offenders and 93 adolescent sexually victimized nonsexual offending delinquents from three Michigan sexual offender treatment facilities participated in an anonymous cross-sectional survey regarding their sexual victimization and offending as well as a social desirability measure. RESULTS: When comparing the two groups, nonsexually offending delinquents and sexually offending delinquents, the latter were found to have: closer relationships with their perpetrators; a higher chance of having a male perpetrator(s); a longer duration of sexual victimization; more forceful sexual victimization; and the experience of penetration as part of their sexual victimization. Logistic regression showed that the gender of the perpetrators being both male and female and the forcefulness of the perpetrators were the best predictors of being in the sexual offender group. CONCLUSIONS: The social learning theory hypotheses were generally supported. Further multivariate research on this theory is warranted.     

The Home Schooling “Market”: Results and Implications of Current Research

ABSTRACT

One of the biggest forces in primary and secondary education today is the home schooling movement–parents opting to forego sending their children to public or private schools in order to teach them themselves in their own home. As this movement grows, more and more students entering higher education will have been home schooled. This is becoming a market segment that many colleges and universities cannot afford to ignore. The current paper reviews the research which has been conducted on home schooling to answer four questions of importance to college or university officials as they contemplate targeting this group: (1) why do parents home school? (2) what are the characteristics of home schoolers? (3) would home schoolers make good college students? and (4) how could a college or university effectively reach out to home schoolers? By answering these four questions, college and university officials can better decide whether or not they should target home schooled students and, if they do, how to best reach these students.     

Predictors of Self-Reported Likelihood of Working with Older Adults

This study examined the self-reported likelihood of working with older adults in a future career among 237 college undergraduates at a midsized Midwestern university. Although aging anxiety was not significantly related to likelihood of working with older adults, those students who had a greater level of death anxiety were less likely than other students to report a future likelihood of working with older adults. In addition, quality relationships with unrelated older adults were positively correlated with likelihood of working with older adults. Recommendations for future research and ideas for attracting college students to gerontology as a career are discussed.     

Mapping the intersections of gender and college trauma

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the complex juncture of gender and experiences of trauma in college. Two research questions guided this investigation: (a) How does gender intersect with an individual’s experience(s) of trauma during college? and (b) What sociocultural contexts shape the role of gender intersecting with traumatic experiences in college? Data were collected using interviews and visual mapping/written response activities. Analysis revealed three dominant themes when gender was salient in traumatic experience, including: (a) gender norms contributing to the production of trauma; (b) gender norms restricting traumatic recovery; and (c) trauma catalyzing the interrogation of gender norms. Results of this study underscore the importance of continued attention in both research and practice to the complex ways in which systems of oppression around gender, in particular, but other identities broadly, offer both restrictions and possibilities for those navigating traumatic recovery.     

The Role of Unrealistic Optimism in College Student Risky Sexual Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between unrealistic optimism (UO) and risky sexual behavior (RSB) and related consequences in a college student sample. Participants believed they had significantly lower personal risk of engagement in alcohol-related sexual activity, unintended pregnancy, and STIs than the average college student (ps?<?0.01). Compared to national data, participants significantly underestimated likelihood of HPV and sexual engagement with four or more partners in the next year (ps?<?0.01). Findings support evidence of UO relating to RSB-related consequences, indicating need for improvements in sexual health education and intervention.     

A comparative study of attitudes toward child sexual abuse among social work and judicial system professionals

To meet the needs of mutual clients, perpetrators and victims, social service and judicial system professionals share an obligation to collaborate in cases of child sexual abuse. Unknown is the extent to which individuals in counter professions share common beliefs about perpetrators and victims of child sexual abuse. This paper reports an inquiry into the attitudes of five professional groups within an urban criminal justice system specific to victim credibility, victim culpability, offender culpability, and the crime and punishment of child sexual abuse. As predicted, statistically significant differences in attitudes were found among child welfare social workers, police officers, district attorneys, public defenders, and judges. In particular, groups differed in their beliefs about victim credibility and punishment of offenders, suggesting conflict in addressing two fundamental questions in these cases: (1) Can a child be believed when he or she reports sexual abuse? and (2) How should the system deal with offenders? Both questions beg the continuing attention of all professionals invested in these cases, ultimately benefiting victims and offenders. Both quantitative and qualitative findings are provided in this report.     

Juvenile sex offenders: development and correction

This paper addresses the developmental nature of sexually abusive behaviors as they apply to juvenile male sexual offenders. Socialization and sexual victimization are discussed. Three case histories elucidate and support the discussion of the development of victim offending. Significant treatment issues of juvenile male sexual offenders center around the sexual assault cycle which provides a framework for sexual offenders to conceptualize and understand the cognitive, behavioral, psychological, and situational factors which have resulted in their offense(s). Although sexual offenders and sexual offenses are each unique, the sexual assault cycle offers a means of addressing essential commonalities in the treatment of juvenile sexual offenders. Sexual offender specific treatment is viewed as essential for decreasing the risk of further sexual offenses, and thus decreasing the incidence of sexual victimization.     

A Study of Differences Among Four Types of Disciplinary Offenders on Selected Cognitive and Affective Measures

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine Identifiable cognitive and affective characteristics existing among college student disciplinary offenders. The measures used were the College Qualification Tests; the Test of Critical Thinking, Form G; the Inventory of Beliefs, Form A; Rokeach’s Dogmation Scale, Form E; and the Differential Values Inventory.

Disciplinary offenders were classified into four categories by the three chief student personnel administrators at Michigan State University. These categories were as follows: 1) Very Severe Disciplinary Offense, 2) Severe Disciplinary offense, 3) Moderately Severe Disciplinary Offense, and 4) Disciplinary Offense of Minor Severity.

The writer hypothesized that no significant differences existed among the four classes of disciplinary offenders on these measures.

The hypotheses were accepted on all measures except one. Male students Involved In less severe disciplinary offenses scored significantly higher on the Test of Critical Thinking than did males involved in more severe offenses. This did not hold true, however, among female student offenders.

The writer concluded, therefore, that student disciplinary offenders do not generally appear to have Identifiable differences as measured by the instruments used in this study. However, the data indicates that further research might be fruitful.     

Learning about the Labeled: Teaching a Course on Sexual Offenders while Accounting for Students who may be Abuse Survivors

Teaching a course on sexual offenders presents instructors with a variety of challenges, including teaching students who may be sexual assault victims. Faculty must work to overcome preconceived, often erroneous, student beliefs about sex offenders, which have been influenced by the media’s reporting on the subject. This paper is the result of teaching undergraduate and graduate class on sexual offending for thirteen semesters. This article serves as an instructional tool to create a balanced class structure that prepares the instructor on how to remain unbiased and objective in the face of emotional, political, and religious opposition from the students. Specific subject topics, course material, assignments, and in-class activities are examined as a learning platform to disseminate information on sex offending and the sex offender registry.