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Boschetti A, Camperio Ciani A, Scarpazza C. Sexual offenses and the brain. Handb Clin Neurol 2023; 197:161-179. [PMID: 37633708 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-821375-9.00017-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/28/2023]
Abstract
Sexual offenses are a great concern worldwide due to the devastating physical and psychological consequences the victims of such crimes often experience. It is an important task to investigate potential mechanisms that may underlie sexual offending and predispose an individual for such antisocial behavior. Advanced techniques in neuroscience are increasingly used to uncover biomarkers in psychiatric disorders and organic brain disease. As this type of research is flourishing, preliminary studies with the aim to explore the neural basis of sex offenders have started to appear. To this purpose, researchers began to study the brain's structural and functional changes and the neurocognitive profiles of sex offenders, in comparison to nonoffenders and nonsex offenders, or among different subtypes of sex offenders. Most of the research to date has focused on pedophilia, with some inconsistent findings, which hampers the translation of the results into the forensic and clinical context. Any attempt to increase convergent evidence may profit from the harmonization of data analysis and avoidance of methodological inconsistencies, which can account for the different results across studies. Today, uncovering the neural basis of sex offences has to become a priority, not only for clinical interventions, but might also be important knowledge for crime prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Boschetti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Camperio Ciani
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Cristina Scarpazza
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Translational Cognitive and NeuroImaging Lab, IRCCS Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy.
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Schippers EE, Smid WJ, Both S, Smit JH. Excitation Transfer Between Sexual Arousal and Other Emotions in a Community Sample. Arch Sex Behav 2022; 51:3905-3918. [PMID: 35471677 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02235-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Excitation transfer, the transfer of arousal from one emotion to another, might be a mechanism in the development of unusual sexual interests. In this pilot study, we investigated whether we could induce excitation transfer between various emotions and sexual arousal in a laboratory setting with 30 male volunteers. We induced low-level sexual arousal in four different emotional states (aggression/dominance, endearment, fear, disgust) and a neutral state. Sexual arousal was measured using penile plethysmography and self-report. Although there was no mean group effect, possibly due to large interindividual variations, 60% of the subjects showed more sexual arousal in response to sexual stimulation in at least one of the emotional states than in the neutral state. Excitation transfer was most prominent with aggression/dominance and least prominent with disgust. Genital excitation transfer was strongly related to lower penile reactivity and to higher self-reported erotophilia. This pilot study paves the way for further research into excitation transfer as a mechanism to increase the salience of stimuli that otherwise would not have been sexual in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eveline E Schippers
- Forensic Care Specialists, Oudlaan 9, 3515 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Section Forensic Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Wineke J Smid
- Forensic Care Specialists, Oudlaan 9, 3515 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie Both
- Department of Psychosomatic Gynaecology and Sexology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes H Smit
- Department of Research and Innovation, GGZ INGEEST Specialized Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam Public Health, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Dobbrunz S, Brunner F, Müller JL, Briken P. [Interrater reliability of the criteria-based assessment of criminal responsibility in paraphilic disorders]. Nervenarzt 2021; 92:1-8. [PMID: 32394005 PMCID: PMC7808990 DOI: 10.1007/s00115-020-00920-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND For the assessment of criminal responsibility in the context of sexual delinquency, the evaluation of the severity of a paraphilic disorder and the ability to be controlled are of particular importance. Established assessment criteria are insufficiently operationalized. AIM AND METHODS The existing criteria were tested by experts of various professional groups with respect to the reliability. For this purpose, 14 experts assessed the criteria of 2 different sets of criteria based on 2 case vignettes (see electronic supplementary material). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The interrater reliability (IRR) with reference to the criteria of Briken and Müller was higher than the previously established criteria of Boetticher et al. The evaluation of the subjective importance of the criteria of both assessment scales showed that all criteria were rated as at least of average importance. It could thus be useful to initially include both sets of criteria for a greater transparency in the assessment process and to investigate this procedure in further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Dobbrunz
- Institut für Sexualforschung, Sexualmedizin und Forensische Psychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Deutschland
| | - F Brunner
- Institut für Sexualforschung, Sexualmedizin und Forensische Psychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Deutschland
| | - J L Müller
- Forensische Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Deutschland
| | - P Briken
- Institut für Sexualforschung, Sexualmedizin und Forensische Psychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Deutschland.
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Lišková K, Bělehradová A. 'We Won't Ban Castrating Pervs Despite What Europe Might Think!': Czech Medical Sexology and the Practice of Therapeutic Castration. Med Hist 2019; 63:330-351. [PMID: 31208483 PMCID: PMC7329228 DOI: 10.1017/mdh.2019.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The Czech Republic holds one of the highest numbers of men labelled as sexual delinquents worldwide who have undergone the irreversible process of surgical castration - a policy that has elicited strong international criticism. Nevertheless, Czech sexology has not changed its attitude towards 'therapeutic castration', which remains widely accepted and practised. In this paper, we analyse the negotiation of expertise supporting castration and demonstrate how the changes in institutional matrices and networks of experts (Eyal 2013) have impacted the categorisation of patients and the methods of treatment. Our research shows the great importance of historical development that tied Czech sexology with the state. Indeed, Czech sexology has been profoundly institutionalised since the early 1970s. In accordance with the state politics of that era, officially named Normalisation, sexology focused on sexual deviants and began creating a treatment programme that included therapeutic castration. This practice, the aim of which is to protect society from sex offenders, has changed little since. We argue that it is the expert-state alliance that enables Czech sexologists to preserve the status quo in the treatment of sexual delinquents despite international pressure. Our research underscores the continuity in medical practice despite the regime change in 1989. With regard to previous scholarship on state-socialist Czechoslovakia, we argue that it was the medical mainstream that developed and sustained disciplining and punitive features.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW This paper reviews recent research into four different approaches to the assessment of offense-related sexual deviance. RECENT FINDINGS Two of these approaches, structured rating scales and phallometry, have a sufficient basis in research for clinical use but have undergone significant refinements in recent years. One approach, the use of cognitive tasks to indirectly assess sexual deviance, is approaching the point where it has a sound research basis for clinical use though too many promising tasks have yet to make the transition from laboratory to clinical practice. This approach has however begun to map the earlier stages of sexual response including preconscious processes. The final approach, assessment through neuroimaging, is at the earliest stage of development with research findings having yet to reach sufficient stability for clinical application. Existing assessment technologies, despite their limitations, allow professionals to assess offense-related sexual deviance. New approaches, currently being developed, potentially allow a better understanding of underlying processes and, when sufficiently mature, will be more therapeutically useful.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Thornton
- Sand Ridge Research Unit, 301 Troy Dr - Bldg 14, Madison, WI, 53704, USA.
| | - Gina Ambroziak
- Sand Ridge Research Unit, 301 Troy Dr - Bldg 14, Madison, WI, 53704, USA
| | - Rachel E Kahn
- Sand Ridge Research Unit, 301 Troy Dr - Bldg 14, Madison, WI, 53704, USA
| | - James Mundt
- Sand Ridge Research Unit, 301 Troy Dr - Bldg 14, Madison, WI, 53704, USA
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Abstract
Persons with intellectual disabilities who have been identified because they committed a sexual offense may have done so because of a sexual paraphilia. However, special consideration in assessment is required to determine whether the offense is caused by a paraphilia alone or whether other factors relating to the individual's intellectual disabilities may be especially significant. This article reviews some factors that have been identified as significant and provides an overview of treatment approaches from multiple perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothy M Griffiths
- International Dual Diagnosis Certificate Programme, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Centre of Applied Disability Studies, Brock University, 500 GlenRidge Avenue, St Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
| | - Paul Fedoroff
- Sexual Behaviours Clinic, Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7K4, Canada
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McPhail IV, Hermann CA, Fernandez YM. Correlates of emotional congruence with children in sexual offenders against children: a test of theoretical models in an incarcerated sample. Child Abuse Negl 2014; 38:336-346. [PMID: 24211124 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2013] [Revised: 09/21/2013] [Accepted: 10/03/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Emotional congruence with children is a psychological construct theoretically involved in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending against children. Research conducted to date has not examined the relationship between emotional congruence with children and other psychological meaningful risk factors for sexual offending against children. The current study derived potential correlates of emotional congruence with children from the published literature and proposed three models of emotional congruence with children that contain relatively unique sets of correlates: the blockage, sexual deviance, and psychological immaturity models. Using Area under the Curve analysis, we assessed the relationship between emotional congruence with children and offense characteristics, victim demographics, and psychologically meaningful risk factors in a sample of incarcerated sexual offenders against children (n=221). The sexual deviance model received the most support: emotional congruence with children was significantly associated with deviant sexual interests, sexual self-regulation problems, and cognition that condones and supports child molestation. The blockage model received partial support, and the immaturity model received the least support. Based on the results, we propose a set of further predictions regarding the relationships between emotional congruence with children and other psychologically meaningful risk factors to be examined in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian V McPhail
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Forensic Service, 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6J 1H4.
| | - Chantal A Hermann
- Carleton University, Department of Psychology, A403 Loeb, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6
| | - Yolanda M Fernandez
- Correctional Service of Canada, Kingston Penitentiary, 560 King Street West, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 4V7
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