Social and sexual functioning in schizophrenic men who commit serious sex offences against women

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known about the social and sexual functioning of men with schizophrenia who commit serious sex offences.AimsTo examine social and sexual functioning, before and after illness onset, in a national sample of schizophrenic men who have been convicted of a contact sex offence against a woman, two hypotheses are tested. First, that there are no significant differences in social and sexual functioning between white and Afro‐Caribbean men with schizophrenia who have sexually assaulted women. Second, that men who have a history of contact sex offending antedating the onset of schizophrenia are more likely to have poor pre‐onset social and sexual functioning compared with men who begin sex offending after illness onset.MethodA search of Home Office records was completed for all 84 male restricted hospital order inpatients with schizophrenia, resident in any hospital in England and Wales, during May 1997, with an index conviction for a contact sex offence against a woman.ResultsThe group underwent a significant deterioration in social and sexual functioning after the onset of schizophrenia. Afro‐Caribbean men had better pre‐onset social and sexual adjustment compared with white men, but underwent a deterioration to a similar extent after developing schizophrenia. Men who began sex offending before the onset of schizophrenia were more likely to have impairment of pre‐onset social and sexual functioning compared with men who did not offend sexually until after illness onset. However, controlling for other variables, only pre‐onset social isolation remained significantly associated with sex offending before illness onset.ConclusionsWhilst the findings do not support the first hypothesis they do provide evidence for the second hypothesis. Formulation of treatment programmes for schizophrenic sex offenders requires careful consideration of pre‐onset as well as current social and sexual functioning. Copyright © 1999 Whurr Publishers Ltd.