NCJ Number
147465
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 3-11
Date Published
1994
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the incidence of psychopathy in a sample of 65 federally incarcerated sexual offenders housed in Ontario. The study also explored the relationship between a phallometric measure of sexual arousal and criminal psychopathy, and two related factors -- personality characteristics and lifestyle variables.
Abstract
The results indicate a significant relationship between psychopathy and deviant sexual arousal, most particularly for extrafamilial child molesters. This relationship also approached significance for rapists, but not for incest offenders. It also appears that many subjects tried to suppress their responses to the phallometric stimuli, resulting in data for several subjects that were uninterpretable due to low arousal. These findings support previous research that psychopaths are at a higher risk to reoffend, to reoffend sooner, and to reoffend in a more violent manner. Clinicians should consider psychopathy in their assessment of sexual offenders and relate this to risk management strategies, particularly for child molesters and rapists. 2 tables and 23 references