The Baseline Project provided an assessment package and treatment for juveniles (aged 16-21 years) serving sentences for sexual offences, and was the only such programme available in Ireland (ROI). It was a venture between the Northside Inter-Agency Project and the Psychology Department of the Irish Prison Service and worked with juveniles on a…

This study examined a variety of factors that may influence attributions towards rape victims. A total of 156 participants completed a questionnaire, which included a measure of attitudes towards rape victims and a vignette depicting one of three rape scenarios (a stranger rape, date rape and seduction rape). Participants rated the extent to which…

Multiple perpetrator rape presents a significant problem nationally and internationally. However, previous research is limited and findings are often contradictory. The details of 101 rape allegations recorded in a six-month period in a large police force in England were analysed. Findings are presented about case classification, victim and…

The purpose of this study was to examine general empathy, general victim empathy and own victim empathy in adolescent sexual offenders. Sixteen adolescent sexual offenders completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Personal Reaction Inventory, a "general sexual abuse victim" form of the Victim Empathy Distortions Scale…

This study compared the moral development of solo juvenile male sex offenders (n = 20) and juvenile male non-offenders (n = 76), aged 13-19 years, from lower socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. The Moral Orientation Measure (MOM) was used to assess punishment- and victim-based moral orientation in sexual and non-sexual situations. Moral…

Surveys and focus groups were administered to two samples of US university undergraduates to compare sexual aggression prevalence as assessed based on the Power-Assertion model (n = 139) versus the Confluence model (n = 318). Men were more likely to commit all illegal acts, especially conventional rape. Women also committed illegal acts,…

This study investigates the variations in behaviour displayed by young people who sexually harm, as previous research has shown that they are not a homogeneous sample. Three conceptually distinct sets of behaviour were hypothesized, relating to various modes of interaction between the young people with harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) and their…

Research was undertaken on the criminal careers of a large group of juvenile sexual and non-sexual offenders (of violence and property) in the Netherlands. Data from police records over a 6-year period from 1996 to 2002 were analysed. Results show that, with the exception of those in the exhibitionist subgroup, young sexual offenders start their…

Sexual coping, general coping and cognitive distortions were investigated in 25 rapists, 36 child molesters and 25 violent offenders. Rapists did not report more support for rape-supportive distortions than the violent offender comparison group. Child molesters scored higher than the other groups on the measure of molestation-supportive…

The aim of the current study was to reveal attitudes towards child sexual abuse and investigate predictors of such attitudes. A random sample of the Norwegian adult population (n = 296), active Christians (n = 125) and prisoners convicted of child sexual abuse (n = 36) were included in the study. The results show that women were more negative…