When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with early-childhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing new problems, those of child sexual abuse in…

This study examines the efficacy, as experienced by offenders with their victim, of self-protection strategies used in child sexual abuse cases. It also investigates whether the efficacy of self-protection varies according to victim characteristics. The sample consists of 94 adult offenders who sexually abused a single child and who agreed to…

Background: This paper investigates the efficacy of a treatment program for sexual offenders with special needs in comparison to treatment outcomes for mainstream sexual offenders. Follow-up data is also presented for the group of offenders with special needs. Method: Participants from the two groups were matched on four variables (risk category,…

While the phenomenon of sexual fantasy has been researched extensively, little contemporary inquiry has investigated the structural properties of sexual fantasy within the context of sexual offending. In this study, a qualitative analysis was used to develop a descriptive model of the phenomena of sexual fantasy during the offence process.…

This paper on the problem of sex offending among individuals with intellectual disabilities examines the incidence of this problem, characteristics of intellectually disabled sex offenders, determination of whether the behavior is a paraphilia or functional age-related behavior, and treatment options, with emphasis on the situation in New South…

Forty-eight incarcerated sex offenders were compared with 16 property offenders and 16 nonoffenders on self-report measures of childhood maternal and paternal attachment and adult attachment. Results suggest that insecure childhood attachments may be related to offending behavior generally and that certain combinations of childhood attachment…

A study involving 64 Australian sex offenders and 33 non-sex offenders found childhood emotional abuse and family dysfunction, childhood behavior problems, and childhood sexual abuse were developmental risk factors for paraphilia. Emotional abuse and family dysfunction was found to be a risk factor for pedophilia, exhibitionism, rape, or multiple…

A study was conducted of 13 male sex offenders with mild intellectual disability (ages 17 to 43) in Victoria (Australia). Results suggest that cognitive restructuring, consequence training, relapse prevention, and covert sensitization appear to be promising intervention techniques. The importance of early intervention to prevent sexual offenses is…