Protective strengths, risk, and recidivism in a sample of known sexual offenders

Dynamic Protective Factors Relevant to Sexual Offending

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Focusing on protective factors rather than risk factors potentially better aligns assessment with strengths-based treatment. We examine research into the assessment of protective factors to see whether it can play this role relative to sexual offending.

RECENT FINDINGS

Structured asses sment of protective factors is well developed relative to violent offending but only recently studied relative to sexual offending. Nevertheless, multiple measures of protective factors have now been trialed with men who have committed sexual offenses and shown to predict reduced recidivism. Although research into individual scales is limited, overlapping content between scales suggests that protective factors aligning with constructs of Resilience, Adaptive Sexuality, and Prosocial Connection and Reward are all relevant to sexual offending. Protective factors relevant to sexual offending are sufficiently well identified that they can usefully be used for treatment need assessment, treatment planning during therapy, and case management. They can also make some contribution to risk assessment. The Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors against Sexual Offending (SAPROF-SO) is currently the most comprehensive measure of protective factors relevant to sexual offending.

A shifting paradigm? A scoping review of the factors influencing recovery and rehabilitation in recent forensic research

Forensic research and practice have historically focused on risk assessment and prevention. This risk-oriented paradigm is shifting towards a more recovery-oriented perspective. The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of research on the factors influencing rehabilitation and recovery and discuss the recovery paradigm in a forensic setting. We performed a systematic search of the literature from the past 10 years, in Pubmed, Cinahl and PsycInfo, on recovery and rehabilitation. All types of study designs were included. Data was analysed and charted using an Excel template with various data items of interest. Clinical, personal, social, functional and forensic factors were found to be of influence on recovery and rehabilitation. A number of these overlapped with factors of influence on recidivism and desistance, others did not. Most studies on recovery and rehabilitation focused on a clinical forensic setting. This study provides an overview of the current body of knowledge on the factors influencing recovery and rehabilitation in forensic clients, and encourages researchers and practitioners in their focus on the recovery paradigm in forensic care. The body of evidence on rehabilitation and recovery is not yet as profound as that on recidivism and desistance. More knowledge on recovery trajectories for offenders in prison or ambulatory care, for example, is required.

Situational and Dispositional Determinants of College Men's Perception of Women's Sexual Desire and Consent to Sex: A Factorial Vignette Analysis

Sexual victimization of women by men on college campuses is a growing societal concern, with research identifying a host of situational and characterological factors that may predict men's likelihood to engage in sexual misconduct. In the present study, we examined the relative contribution and potential interplay of these various determinants on college men's perceptions of women's sexual desire and consent in hypothetical dating scenarios depicting a sexual interaction. We found that the men (N = 145) in this sample (a) conflated sexual desire with consent, (b) varied their appraisals of consent and desire depending on whether and how the woman in the vignette communicated consent or refusal, (c) perceived higher levels of consent if the man in the vignette had intercourse with the woman previously and as a function of escalating sexual intimacy in the ongoing interaction, (d) endorsed higher levels of perceived desire and consent across situations if they more strongly held rape-supportive attitudes, and (e) moderated their association between situational factors and perceptions of a woman's sexual intentions based on their endorsement of rape myths and a hypermasculine ideology. We conclude that efforts to prevent sexual violence among college students may benefit from being modeled on our findings that some men are likelier to infer consent regardless of the situation, that specific situational factors can foster misperceptions of consent across men in general, and that certain individuals in particular situations may pose the greatest risk for sexual misconduct.

Attenuation of Deviant Sexual Fantasy across the Lifespan in United States Adult Males

Deviant sexual fantasy is identified as a risk factor for sexual offending, yet no study has examined deviant sexual fantasy across the lifespan in nonoffending adult males. To bridge this gap, this study examined the frequencies of normative and deviant sexual fantasies among 318 nonoffending adult males in the United States. Participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk™. Participants took two inventories that assessed demographics and types of sexual fantasies. Normality tests, means tests, Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs), binary logistic regressions, and odds ratio post hoc analyses were conducted. Deviant sexual fantasies progressively declined across all three age groups, while normative sexual fantasy did not. Results suggest that deviant sexual fantasy changes across the lifespan. Applicability of the findings to applied settings, such as sexually violent predator evaluations, is discussed. Limitations and future considerations are addressed.

Identifying Risk and Protective Factors in Recidivist Juvenile Offenders: A Decision Tree Approach

Research on juvenile justice aims to identify profiles of risk and protective factors in juvenile offenders. This paper presents a study of profiles of risk factors that influence young offenders toward committing sanctionable antisocial behavior (S-ASB). Decision tree analysis is used as a multivariate approach to the phenomenon of repeated sanctionable antisocial behavior in juvenile offenders in Spain. The study sample was made up of the set of juveniles who were charged in a court case in the Juvenile Court of Almeria (Spain). The period of study of recidivism was two years from the baseline. The object of study is presented, through the implementation of a decision tree. Two profiles of risk and protective factors are found. Risk factors associated with higher rates of recidivism are antisocial peers, age at baseline S-ASB, problems in school and criminality in family members.