NCJ Number
165023
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 20 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1996) Pages: 1067-1077
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
All convicted child molesters appearing before the court in South East London, England for sentencing or applying for parole over a 2-year period were assessed with respect to their personal, psychological, and offense characteristics.
Abstract
Some of the assessments were replicated on violent and property offenders to permit a preliminary comparison. The analysis was conducted by staff of the Challenge Project, a community project for perpetrators of child sexual abuse in South East London. Results were similar to findings of previous research, and the comparisons with other offender groups suggested that a cluster of childhood experiences exists that differentiates these sex offenders from other types of offenders. Findings supported the hypothesis that perpetrators of child sexual abuse form a heterogeneous group of offenders, with identifiable and overlapping subgroups related to crucial variables such as a history of sexual abuse, repeat offending, and victim gender and relationship. Tables and 19 references (Author abstract modified)