Validity of Physiological Measures of Pedophilic Sexual Arousal in a Sexual Offender Population

• NCJ Number: 110772
• Journal: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 56 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 118-122
• Author(s): G C N Hall; W C Proctor; G M Nelson
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Sexual arousal, as measured by penile erection, in response to nondeviant and pedophilic audiotapes was analyzed in a sample of 122 inpatient adult male sexual offenders. Eighty percent of the subjects were able to voluntarily and completely inhibit their sexual arousal.

Abstract

Multivariate analyses suggested that nondeviant and deviant arousal were significantly associated and that sexual arousal as a male voice described consenting sexual intercourse with women or female minors was significantly higher than sexual arousal to descriptions of physically forcible sexual and nonsexual activity with female minors. However, the correspondence of these physiological measures with several external offense criteria was weak. Deviant sexual arousal among sexual offenders may often reflect general arousability rather than deviant sexual behavior. Caution is advised in the interpretation of physiological measures to assess sexual offenders. (Publisher abstract)