College students (n=114) completed the Attitudes toward Women Scale and an adaptation of the Sexual Experiences Survey. Those who had experienced or perpetrated minimal levels of sexual abuse had significantly more positive attitudes toward women and their rights than did those who had experienced or perpetrated serious levels of sexual abuse.…

Offers historical overview of "criminal sexual psychopath" legislation, which customarily prescribes confinement for treatment (rather than incarceration for punishment) for offenders whose sex crimes are attributed to sexual psychopathology. Discusses desire of American Bar Association and Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry to…

A questionnaire investigated whether asking sex offenders and their support persons about offenders' strengths and barriers in therapy would yield clinically useful information. Data were collected prior to an educational seminar for nonviolent offenders in an outpatient program. Three categories were derived from 299 comments. Results are…

Describes the technique of psychodrama to facilitate victim empathy with adolescent sexual offenders. Discusses other psychodramatic methods of role training, sociodrama, mirroring, and modeling, and their applications to working with adolescent sexual offenders. Outlines the history of the psychodrama technique's implementation in a…

Attempts to define the optimal sex offender treatment program based on a review of the empirical literature and on personal clinical experience with sex offenders. Discusses the use of the penile plethysmograph and the polygraph as methods of psychosocial assessment used in conjunction with antiandrogen medication to dampen the offender's libido…

Compared sex offenders who received DepoProvera to group who had same clinical and legal problems but who refused pharmacotherapy. Both groups received group therapy, individual therapy, and sometimes family therapy. Results indicated that possible factors signifying increased likelihood of reoffense were high initial plasma testosterone,…

Reviews strategies for preparing psychosexual evaluations of sex offenders. Suggests report format and these major sections: identifying information, reason for referral, notification of rights, sources of information, mental status, personal and social history, sexual and sexual offense history, test results, opinions, diagnostic impressions,…

Proposes an ecological perspective for understanding the complex phenomenon of adolescent sexual offending. Pertinent research findings are incorporated within the individual, microsystems, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystemic levels. Examines the characteristics of adolescent sex offenders and asks how the school system and families can work…

Examined how intellectually and emotionally biased media presentations influenced mock jurors' decisions in sex abuse cases. Results show that, when assessed immediately, videos significantly influenced verdicts. However, with a significant time delay (four weeks) and no obvious connection between presentation and trial, no effects on verdicts…

In sample of 30 consecutively admitted sex offenders at treatment facility inside Austrian prison system, found 23 patients with diagnosis of personality disorder. Distribution of diagnoses did not differ significantly from other samples found in general outpatient clinic with exception of relatively high rate of sadistic personality disorder…

Reports on a survey sent to a sample of National Adolescent Perpetrator Network (NAPN) members. Results profile the educational and experiential backgrounds of juvenile-sex-offender-treatment providers, assessment tools used, treatment theories and interventions, client-presenting issues, and methods of evaluating success of treatment programs.…

In recent years public attitudes toward sex offenders have become increasingly punitive. Consequently, new legislation pertaining to the sentencing and treatment of convicted sex offenders has been focused on containment and monitoring rather than rehabilitation. However, research suggests that treatment programs for sex offenders are effective in…

Provides an overview of physical and chemical castration and its use in controlling sex offenders. Discusses castration and sexual aggression, then focuses on the use of therapeutic physical castration in dealing with those who display unacceptable sexual behaviors. Details legal and ethical issues and the efficacy of testosterone-lowering…

Examined the effects of juror gender and victim gender on two types of sexual abuse cases. Subjects were 323 university students. Findings suggest a relationship between juror gender, victim gender, and case types. Male jurors made fine-tuned discriminations based on variables such as case type and victim gender. (RJM)

A model of the characteristics of sexually aggressive men which emphasizes the convergence of several interrelated factors is described. The model explores the role of sexual and power motives underlying rape and other forms of sexual aggression. Also describes a risk analysis which illustrates the potential relevance of the model to clinical…