NCJ Number
209913
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 13 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 33-55
Date Published
2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the development and testing of an etiological model of sexual coercion.
Abstract
The proposed etiological model of the origins of sexual aggression indicates that early abuse experiences (physical/verbal and sexual) plus personality predispositions combine to produce three latent traits that predict sexual aggression: arrogant, deceitful personality/emotional detachment; impulsivity/antisocial behaviors; and sexual preoccupation/hypersexuality. In two samples of adults (sexual offenders and male community controls), physical/verbal abuse was found to increase the likelihood of arrogant/deceitful personality/emotional detachment. It also served as a model of aggression, thus increasing the likelihood of aggressive behavior and antisocial, impulsive acting out. Research with children suggests that physical/verbal abuse has similar effects. In both samples of adults, sexual abuse led to sexual preoccupation and compulsivity, which in turn increased the risk of aggressive sexual fantasies. The most current study reported in this article tested the utility of this latent trait model on juvenile sexual offenders. The 218 juveniles in the sample came from inpatient juvenile sexual offender treatment facilities in Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Virginia. All participants had been adjudicated for sexual offenses that involved sexual contact with a victim. The mean age of the sample was 15.97. The juveniles were administered one of the computerized versions of the MASA (Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression). The versions of the MASA used in this study added sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional detachment, and arrogant and deceitful personality to the 10 original domains. In testing the model, for each of the latent traits researchers created observational measures comparable to the measures used in the adult model. The most impressive finding in the testing of the model was the consistency of the pattern in relations among traits in both adult and juvenile sexual offender samples. 2 figures and 90 references