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van den Berg JW, van Beek DJ, Bouman YHA, Janssen E, Smid WJ, Gijs L. Understanding the Risk of Sexual Reoffending in Adult Men: A Network-Based Model. SEXUAL ABUSE : A JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND TREATMENT 2024; 36:135-157. [PMID: 36731100 DOI: 10.1177/10790632231153633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The predominant approach to understand dynamic risk factors of sexual reoffending has been referred to as the Propensities Model (Thornton, 2016). According to this model, dynamic risk factors can be conceptualized as latent constructs whose change alters the risk of sexual reoffending. Despite its strengths and contributions to research, this model does not offer answers to the question of how dynamic risk factors contribute to the risk of sexual reoffending, or of how sustained change in risk might take place. In this paper we introduce the Network-Based Model of Risk of Sexual Reoffending (NBM-RSR), which addresses several limitations and constraints of the Propensities Model and offers empirically testable propositions regarding the nature and development of the risk of sexual reoffending. The NBM-RSR considers risk of sexual reoffending to involve a self-sustaining network of causally connected dynamic risk factors. Consistent with this, an increased risk of sexual reoffending is characterized through a network that contains more and stronger interconnected dynamic risk factors with a higher strength. Sustained change in risk of sexual reoffending occurs when activity in the network exceeds a critical point resulting in a new self-sustaining network. Propositions based on the NBM-RSR are introduced and translated into testable hypotheses. These propositions revolve around (a) risk of sexual reoffending resulting from the construction of a network of causally connected dynamic risk factors, (b) network stability, sudden changes, and critical transitions, and (c) dynamic risk factors' relative influence on risk of sexual reoffending.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Willem van den Berg
- Transfore, Outpatient Clinic De Tender, Deventer, the Netherlands
- Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, Department of Neurosciences, University of Leuven, Belgium
| | - Daan J van Beek
- Private practice of clinical psychology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | | | - Erick Janssen
- Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, Department of Neurosciences, University of Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Luk Gijs
- Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, Department of Neurosciences, University of Leuven, Belgium
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Fromberger P, Schröder S, Bauer L, Siegel B, Tozdan S, Briken P, Buntrock C, Etzler S, Rettenberger M, Leha A, Müller JL. @myTabu-A Placebo Controlled Randomized Trial of a Guided Web-Based Intervention for Individuals Who Sexually Abused Children and Individuals Who Consumed Child Sexual Exploitation Material: A Clinical Study Protocol. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:575464. [PMID: 33488416 PMCID: PMC7820175 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.575464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: There is a high demand for evidence-based and cost-effective treatment concepts for convicted individuals who sexually abused children (ISAC) and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material (ICCSEM) under community supervision (CS). The @myTabu-consortium developed a guided web-based intervention for convicted ISAC and ICCSEM under CS consisting of six online modules targeting psychological meaningful risk factors. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of this guided web-based intervention in reducing dynamic risk factors and the risk to re-offend compared to a placebo condition. Furthermore, these dynamic risk factors are measured before and after every module to evaluate their individual effectiveness to reduce the respective risk factor as well as risk to re-offend. This clinical trial protocol describes the planned methods as well as the intervention concept. Methods: The methodological design is a placebo controlled randomized add-on trial (N = 582) with follow-ups at 8 points in time. The placebo condition controls for attention and expectation effects and comprises the same amount of modules with a comparable temporal effort as the experimental intervention. The trial is conducted as an add-on to community supervision as usually done. Primary outcomes are dynamic risk factors assessed by self-report risk assessment tools and officially recorded re-offenses. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, the study is the first to compare the (cost-) effectiveness of a guided web-based intervention for convicted ISAC and ICCSEM under community supervision against a placebo condition. Methodological limitations (e.g., potential ceiling- or volunteers-effects) are discussed. Clinical Trial Registration: German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS 00021256). Prospectively registered: 24.04.2020.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Fromberger
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy-Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sonja Schröder
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy-Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Louisa Bauer
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy-Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bruno Siegel
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy-Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Safiye Tozdan
- Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine & Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Peer Briken
- Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine & Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Claudia Buntrock
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | | | - Andreas Leha
- Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jürgen L Müller
- Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy-Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
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