The Association of Childhood Sexual Abuse With Non-Paraphilic and Paraphilic Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents Who Have Sexually Offended

Scoping Review of the Definitions Used to Describe and Understand Harmful Sexual Behaviors in Children and Young People

There is a growing body of evidence that adolescents, and other children, are responsible for a significant proportion of sexual abuse against children. However, there are substantial differences in how this phenomenon is defined and conceptualized between and within sectors. This scoping review explored the current definitions of harmful sexual behaviors (HSB), and other similar terms, used across a range of stakeholder groups. In all, 141 papers were reviewed from both empirical and gray literature sources, including key policy and practice documents. Included papers needed to list a clear definition for the behavior of interest. There was disagreement and inconsistency across the included papers in their conceptualization of harmful, abusive, or problematic sexual behavior (PSB) in children and adolescents. Although the term HSB has been adopted as an umbrella term or continuum in many policy, practice, and research settings, there is a large variance in behaviors, treatment needs, etiology, and harms present across different types of sexual behavior. Relying solely on one term to describe a wide range of sexual behaviors in children and young people may limit the understanding of this issue and imply similarities between groups that are not present. We suggest that clearly defined subsets of HSB, such as sexual abuse, technology-assisted HSB, and PSB, may give more context to the behavior of concern and may be helpful in informing further research, prevention, and best practice approaches.

Paraphilias, Sociodemographic and Forensic Profiles of Men Convicted of Sexual Offenses in Turkey

This study investigated the psychiatric, paraphilic, and forensic profiles of men who were convicted of sexual offenses. It also examined childhood trauma exposure in the group with potential paraphilia. The study was performed in the closed prison located in the Istanbul Silivri Penal Institutions Campus. The interview data of 100 men convicted of sexual offenses were obtained from the psychiatric interview notes based on the DSM-5 criteria, the results of the 28-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire administered to the participants with paraphilia, and the forensic profiles from examination files. It was found that 39% of individuals were drug users and 36% were alcohol users. Considering the crime scenes, 42% of men convicted of sexual offenses committed the offense in their own house. Pedophilia was the most common among men with paraphilia (59%). The victim age was significantly lower (p < .001), and the male victim ratio was higher (p < .05) in the group with paraphilia than in the group without paraphilia. Sexual offenses against children aged 10 years and below and against males may be suggestive of paraphilia and an increased risk of recidivism.

Community intervention programs for sex offenders: A systematic review

Sexual violence is a phenomenon that negatively impacts the victims' physical and psychological health and well-being. Sex offenders tend not to take responsibility for their actions, have difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control, paraphilias or other disorders, so they are a difficult group to treat. In addition, the available psychological treatment programs tend to have inconsistent and, sometimes, undesirable results. This systematic review aimed to analyse the recidivism rates of sex offenders treated in community settings. According to the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search in three databases, EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Web of Science, and a manual search was performed. A total of 319 empirical studies using quantitative methodologies were identified, 27 of which were selected for full-text analysis. In the end, 15 studies were included, published between 1996 and 2020. The objectives, intervention approach, instruments used, and the main results and conclusions were extracted from each study. The studies explored different types of sex offenders, such as: violent sex offenders (e.g., rapists), child abusers, and child abusers with pedophilia (and/or other paraphilias). Results showed that most of the programs had a cognitive-behavioral approach (n = 13). Overall, the interventions appear to be effective in reducing recidivism rates, and some of them led to improvements in other outcomes, such as cognitive distortions, accepting responsibility, victim awareness and empathy, emotional regulation, and offense supportive attitudes. Limitations and implications for future studies were discussed.

The Structure, Covariates, and Etiology of Hypersexuality: Implications for Sexual Offending

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

A substantial increase in research on the structure, covariates, and etiology of hypersexuality has emerged during the last decade. It is the goal of this review to summarize and integrate this research and to indicate some practical implications for clinical and forensic practice, especially as applied to those who have sexually offended.

RECENT FINDINGS

Studies from the last half-decade converge on the conclusion that hypersexuality has both problematic and high sexual drive components. Both aspects have consistently been found to be distributed dimensionally and not categorically. Each subdimension covaries differentially with specific types of impulsivity. In addition to sexual abuse, psychological or emotional abuse has emerged to be a potent developmental antecedent of hypersexuality. Current research has focused on the problematic dimension of hypersexuality and has neglected to specify the criteria for high sexual drive. Lacking are large-scale representative and clinical samples that provide determination of optimal cutoffs for treatment and dispositional decisions for both dimensions of hypersexuality. Research on the etiology of both aspects of hypersexuality is in its infancy, and more differentiated assessments of developmental abuse histories are required.

Child Sex Offender Mind-Set and Grooming Strategies: A Discourse Analysis of Sex Offender Narratives from South Africa

Violence against children, particularly sexual violence continues to threaten South African society. Whilst severely under-reported, the perpetration of child sexual abuse (CSA) against boys and girls is a significant societal concern, underpinned by adverse childhood familial instability, childhood abuse in particular sexual abuse, violence, inequality and wider structural forces. The research base is growing, despite low disclosure rates and significant barriers to access. In order to better understand unique trajectories of perpetration of CSA, particular to the South African context, we conducted an in-depth qualitative study with twelve male child sex offenders who were attending a therapeutic, rehabilitation programme. They provided open discourse on the forms of enticement, exploitation or entrapment of child victims, including threats of harm, used to elicit compliance into sexual activities. They disclosed trauma dictated fantasy, and that they felt powerful and in control, when they sexually abused their victims. Most of the offenses took place in their own home. By delving into the strategies and mind set of the offender who sexually abuse children, this study provides evidence of a distinct and deliberate, 'grooming process' used by offenders; and emphasizes the cyclic patterns of offending. Understanding these truths explores its potential for the prevention of the CSA. In its entirety, the research deconstructs the strategies of the offender and examines their actual role in the onset of sexually offending behavior against children; in order to draw out the implications of these complexities for policy, practice, crime prevention, particularly in terms of the prevention of CSA.