NCJ Number
168325
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1997) Pages: 315-331
Date Published
1997
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the proposition that intimacy deficits and loneliness are influential in sexually offending behaviors.
Abstract
Four groups of individuals voluntarily participated in the project: intrafamilial child molesters, rapists of adult women, violent but nonsexually offending inmates, and community controls. The child molesters were found to suffer from significant intimacy deficits in adult relationships, experienced more loneliness than the nonsexually offending inmates and community controls, and reported greater fear of intimacy than did the rapists. Both child molesters and rapists reported more overall loneliness and emotional loneliness than did the nonsexually offending inmates and community controls. The exploratory multiple regression analyses offered additional support for the relationship of intimacy, fear of intimacy and loneliness to sexual offending. The article suggests that, given the apparent significance of these factors, it is imperative not only to incorporate them into comprehensive theoretical models of sexual offending but also to address these elements in the assessment and treatment process. Tables, references