Majority Of Sex Offenders Research Articles

The Role of Childhood Victimization on the Severity of Adult Offending among Female Sex Offenders

ABSTRACTAlthough males comprise the majority of sex offenders, research has found that females sexually offend similarly to male sex offenders. While male and female sex offenders share commonalities, female sex offenders have higher rates of childhood sexual abuse compared to male sex offenders. In addition, previous research has indicated that childhood abuse can predict adult offending; however, severity of these offenses has not been explored for female sex offenders. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between previous sexual abuse and the severity of future sexual offending for a sample of convicted female sex offenders (n = 263) from 1995 to 2017 in a southern state. The data consisted of agency files that included police investigation reports, initial offender and victim statements (prior to conviction), court records, offender personal history questionnaires, offender assessment reports, and criminal histories. We found support for the cycle of violence hypothesis in which those who had a history of prior sexual abuse were more likely to have committed the most severe and violent offenses against a child when compared to female offenders who did not report childhood sexual abuse. Implications are discussed based on our findings.

Non-consensual sex in Benin

The objective of the study is to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of non-consensual sex/rape in Benin. We surveyed 580 females in the University Community of Benin, 414 questionnaires were sufficiently completed for analysis. Seventy-six (18.4%) respondents reported that they had been victims of non-consensual sex (NCS), 36 in their current relationship. The unmarried single respondents had the lowest mean age at NCS experience of 18 years, while the divorced victims had the highest mean age of 32.5 ( P = 0.000). There was a major exposure peak age at 19 years with a smaller peak at 25. The majority of sex offenders were their present partners and next the husbands (22.2%). The father was the perpetrator on one (2.78%) occasion, while armed robbers raped two of the victims. Eighteen of the seventy-six respondents made a formal report. Cumulatively, 95.4% of the respondents felt it was futile reporting, four (5.3%) felt it was not all a bad experience. The risk of being infected with the HIV/AIDS virus was the worst fear. Ninety-five of four hundred and fourteen respondents want the public and parents to be educated, 64 would like the penal code to be tougher and better implemented, while 64 (14.0%) crave for a dress code for the University community. The self-reported incidence of NCS is high, majority were not formally reported as most of the sex offenders were the (ex)partners of the victims. There was a major exposure peak age at 19 with a smaller peak at 25 years. There was a condoned sense of futility and frustration in reporting.

Attachment style in sex offenders: A preliminary study

In the past few decades, a number of theories have been developed to further our understanding of the various aspects of sex offending. Recent work has been focused on the relationship between early interpersonal experiences and the presence of intimacy deficits in sex offenders. Marshall (1989, 1993, in press) developed an etiological model stressing the importance of insecure attachment and intimacy deficits in both the onset and maintenance of sex offending. In this article we used a reformulation of this model, using Bartholomew's attachment theory, to carry out a preliminary investigation of the nature of attachment relationships in sex offenders. The participants in this study included child molesters (55), rapists (30), violent non‐sex offenders (32), and non‐violent, non‐sex offenders (30). Their general romantic attachment style was assessed using Bartholomew's self‐report scales. Results indicated that the majority of sex offenders were insecurely attached. However, this was true for all four gr...