Pornography Use, Offense-Supportive Cognitions, Atypical Sexual Interests, and Sexual Offending against Children

Reoffending after convictions related to child sexual exploitation material: Data from the German Federal Central Criminal Register

BACKGROUND

As digitalization has made it easier to produce, copy, and distribute child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images has become more widespread. Thus, the need to assess the risk of subsequent sex offenses - above all, sexual abuse of children by individuals who have been convicted of CSEM offenses - becomes more and more important.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the respective size of two groups of offenders: first, offenders who commit CSEM offenses without ever crossing the line to sexual abuse of children, and second, so-called crossover offenders, that is, individuals who commit CSEM offenses and engage in child sexual abuse. Identification of differences between these two groups facilitates analyzing the risk that someone convicted of a CSEM offense might in the future sexually assault children.

METHOD

We used data from the German Federal Central Criminal Register (Bundeszentralregister), a data set that includes information about all persons convicted of any criminal offense, including "child pornography" offenses, by a court in Germany.

RESULTS

For persons convicted of CSEM offenses only, with no additional concurring sex offenses, the rate of subsequent convictions for child sexual abuse is very low (1.1 % after a six-year follow-up period, adult offenders). This risk is even lower if offenders are older than 30 years of age, and it is slightly higher for offenders with previous offense-specific convictions (i.e., previous sex offenses).

CONCLUSIONS

The mere existence of a conviction for a CSEM offense is not an indication that the convicted person poses a significant risk of committing child sexual abuse. To pinpoint such a risk more accurately, the following factors should be examined: the existence of offense-specific prior records, the presence of crossover-offending in the form of concurring offenses, and the age of the offender.

When Kinks Come to Life: An Exploration of Paraphilic Behaviors and Underlying Predictors

Paraphilia is defined as a condition in which sexual excitement relies on fantasizing about and/or participating in unusual sexual behavior. Although recent studies have assessed the concordance between paraphilic interests and paraphilic behaviors, few studies have studied which individual traits and demographics predict engaging in paraphilic behaviors, or the level of concordance between arousal and behavior. The current study replicated and expanded Joyal and Carpentier's 2022 study. We assessed concordance between paraphilic arousal and behavior. Further, we assessed the impact of Dark Tetrad traits, impulsivity, social desirability and demographic variables on engaging in paraphilic behaviors using self-report questionnaires in a sample from the general population and FetLife. Finally, we were interested in whether these individual differences moderated the concordance between arousal and behavior. Results indicated high concordance between paraphilic arousal and behavior for all paraphilias except pedophilia and hebephilia. Younger, male participants were more likely to engage in various paraphilias than women and older participants. Machiavellianism was linked with lower paraphilic behavior, particularly impulsive or risky ones. Psychopathy predicted engaging in more deviant or illegal paraphilias, whereas sadism only showed an association for engaging in frotteurism and narcissism was not a predictor for engaging in any paraphilia. For several paraphilias, individual traits moderated the effect of arousal on behavior. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.

"Stigmatization and perceived dangerousness for intrafamilial child sexual abuse of fathers with a history of sexual offenses and paraphilic interests: Results from a survey of legal psychological experts"

BACKGROUND

Intrafamilial child sexual abuse (ICSA) is a puzzling phenomenon that is not well understood by researches. Nevertheless, psychologists are demanded to assess the risk for child maltreatment by family courts regarding male caregivers with a history of sex offenses and/or paraphilic interests.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess legal psychological experts' perspective on risk assessment in family court proceedings regarding ICSA, their opinions regarding the necessity of contact limitations between fathers/stepfathers who might impose a risk for ICSA, and experts' stigmatization of minor-attracted persons.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

153 psychological experts working in family court proceedings were assessed via an online survey.

METHOD

Jahnke's Stigma Inventory was used as well as a questionnaire tapping into different contact limitations, the perception of child maltreatment risk, and parental capacity. Network analysis was conducted to multivariately investigate item intercorrelations.

RESULTS

Fathers/stepfathers with a diagnosed pedophilic disorder are being regarded as most dangerous, 71 % of the experts agreed with the necessity of a complete contact ban. Reduced parental capacity and increased risk for child maltreatment was observed with regard to sexual offending history and paraphilias.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychological experts in family court proceedings hardly discriminate between sexual offending and paraphilic interests which might be associated with stigmatizing attitudes and lack of experience. An increasing cooperation between family psychologists and experts of forensic risk assessment might reduce the risk of stigmatization and may contribute to more adequate risk assessments for ICSA thus aiding to prevent children from sexual victimization or misinformed risk management interventions.

Psychological and Developmental Correlates of Paraphilic and Normophilic Sexual Interests

The classification of sexual fantasies and behaviors (here referred to as 'sexual interests') has historically been divided into 'paraphilic' and 'normophilic'. However, studies on paraphilic interests are often limited to clinical or forensic samples and normophilic interests are rarely assessed in tandem. Previous research has found mixed results for psychological and other correlates of sexual interests, potentially due to inconsistency in operationalism and measurement of fantasies and behaviors. The aim of the current study was to quantify correlates of sexual interests via the Sexual Fantasies and Behaviors Inventory, containing factors related to general fantasies/behaviors, normophilia, power dynamics, sadomasochism, and courtship paraphilias, using a large (N = 4280) non-clinical sample. Psychological, developmental, sexual, and demographic correlates were investigated via bivariate correlations, mean difference testing, and multiple regression. Sexual interest domains were largely unrelated to psychopathology and developmental factors. Sociosexuality and more accepting attitudes towards sadomasochism was generally related to more arousal to/engagement in normophilic and paraphilic domains. More autism spectrum disorder traits were related to decreased normophilic interests. Psychopathic traits, sexual sensation seeking, and sexual compulsivity were related to paraphilia dimensions, especially courtship paraphilias and domination/sadism; the former was also associated with negative attitudes about establishing consent. Men, non-monogamous, and non-heterosexual participants indicated greater sexual fantasies and behaviors compared to women (except in the case of submission and masochism), monogamous, and heterosexual participants, respectively.

Current Perspectives on Pornography Use by Individuals Convicted of a Sexual Offense

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review examines the literature on the impact of pornography use by individuals convicted of sexual offenses; specifically, it highlights relevant research regarding the effect pornography use has on sexual offense recidivism and explores the implications for treatment and supervision.

RECENT FINDINGS

The current literature suggests that the use of pornography, by itself, does not consistently increase risk for sexual recidivism. Research suggests that pornography use may increase risk for sexual recidivism among adult males who have been assessed as high-risk, while the same cannot be said for low-risk adult males. Pornography may reinforce attitudes supportive of sexual aggression, such as hostility and sexual preoccupation, both variables that have been shown to relate to further acts of sexual offending. Pornography use is more predictive of risk when matched to the type of offense. The extent to which pornography impacts the conceptualization of risk (and therefore treatment and supervision plans) depends on several factors such as the type of pornographic material viewed, the congruence of that material with the individual's offending history, and the expectations regarding the use of pornography within the treatment/supervision context.

Child sexual exploitation material offenders, one-size-fits-all for? Exploring tailored clinical dimensions based on cognitive and behavioural criminogenic factors

BACKGROUND

Interventions for individuals involved in sexual offending behaviours are likely to be more effective if adapted to focus on their specific characteristics, suggesting that men who engage in sexual offences against children over the Internet should be treated differently from those who have actual physical contact against children.

AIMS

The goal of this study is to explore possible associations between the criminogenic cognitions and behaviours of men using online child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) and variables relevant to intervention. We hypothesised that antisocial tendencies, sexual, emotional and relational problems and self-regulation problems, as well as cognitive distortions would be associated with CSEM use.

METHOD

Ninety-eight men who had been convicted of at least one online CSEM-related offence, but no child contact sexual offences, at any time between 2001 and 2020 were recruited in the province of Quebec (Canada). Cases were reviewed to identify cognitive and behavioural criminogenic factors according to a coding sheet developed after reference to prior literature. Variables were extracted from official criminal records, sexological and psychological reports, as well as investigative and forensic reports and interviews. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out to identify potentially relevant dimensions.

RESULTS

Analysis confirmed five distinct factors which, together, accounted for 60% of the variance: dissocial traits, dysfunctional intimacy, passive alienation (internalised sense of alienation), normless alienation (social norms experienced as alien) and coping with threat.

CONCLUSION

Because online CSEM-related offenders present heterogeneous risks and needs, a 'one-size-fits-all' intervention is unlikely to be optimal for most of them. Our findings suggest a way of classifying risks and needs to facilitate more focused interventions. Future research should evaluate the relative effectiveness of general interventions compared to those tailored towards the dimensions of risks and needs identified in this study.