STABLE-2007 is a measure of risk-relevant propensities for adult males convicted of a sexual offense. This meta-analysis evaluated the ability of STABLE-2007 and its items to discriminate between recidivists and nonrecidivists, and the extent to which STABLE-2007 improves prediction over and above Static-99R. Based on 21 studies (12 unique samples, N = 6,955), we found that STABLE-2007 was significantly and incrementally related to sexual recidivism, violent (nonsexual) recidivism, violent (including sexual) recidivism, and any crime. Scores on STABLE-2007 items and the three STABLE-2000 attitude items also discriminated between individuals who sexually reoffended and those who did not sexually reoffend. These findings support the use of STABLE-2007 in applied risk assessment practice and the interpretation of STABLE-2007 items as indicators of treatment and supervision targets.
This study examined whether pedophilia is best understood as a dimension or a discrete class (taxon). We considered pedophilia to include both physical sexual attraction to children as well as emotional attraction to children and childhood. Archival data from 901 adult males from a U.S. civil commitment treatment center for sexually dangerous persons were used. Three indicators were submitted to Meehl and Ruscio's taxometric analyses: (a) a screening scale for pedophilic interests based on criminal history, (b) a composite indicator of pedophilic physical attraction, and (c) a composite indicator of pedophilic emotional attraction. All analyses supported a taxon. Compared with nontaxon members, taxon members had more interpersonal deficits, more neurodevelopmental perturbations, more sex-crime specific problems, and fewer problems related to criminality overall. Although previous research showed mixed results (some dimensional, some taxonic), the current study moves the balance of evidence toward considering pedophilia as a distinct disorder. General Scientific SummaryIndividual differences in sexual attraction are often considered matters of degree. However, our results indicate a sexual attraction to children reflects a categorically distinct phenomenon among adult males.
Criminal history narrative studies reveal an escalation in sexual offender behaviour from non-contact to contact offending, with an ever-increasing likelihood of sexual violence and homicide. In particular, researchers have found that sexual offenders often have a history of committing burglaries prior to contact offences. Accordingly, researchers have suggested that burglaries may be associated with an increased likelihood of future sexual offending, particularly when they have a sexual element to them. However, to date, there has been little quantitative research focusing on the mechanisms of escalation in sexual offences. This paper seeks to study factors associated with sexual offence escalation in terms of changes in offence seriousness and frequency. Specifically, case evidence was gleaned from a series of fetish burglaries and subsequent sexual assaults and murders committed by the former Canadian Colonel David Russell Williams (RW). Cluster analysis, chisquare, ANOVA, and regression analyses were conducted on the crime scene information of RW's 82 cases of fetish burglary. Analyses revealed a significant escalation in the frequency and seriousness of RW's fetish burglary offences prior to committing acts of sexual violence and ultimately sexual homicide. Recommendations for future research predicting escalation of sexual offending by frequency and seriousness of offending behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key words: escalation; sexual offenders; fetishism; burglary; non-contact offendingThe current scientific framework to psychological research provides for both nomothetic and idiographic approaches, but the latter is sadly underutilised, particularly in criminal, forensic, and investigative psychology. In clinical forensic case studies, idiographic approaches are thought to be useful in identifying variations in assessment and treatment efficacy at the individual level (Smith, 2012). Within criminal and investigative contexts, it is argued that, although police investigations tend to work in a reverse manner, where the *Correspondence to: Andrew E. Brankley, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto M5B 2K3, Canada. E-mail: andrew.brankley@psych.ryerson.ca The authors would like to dedicate this paper to the lives and memories of the victims discussed herein and all individuals affected by these offences. We hope that future crimes may be prevented through further understanding of sexual offending behaviour. intent is to identify the offender from behavioural and crime scene details (Rainbow & Gregory, 2011), the reverse, idiographic approach can still be fruitful. One clear example is provided by Dan Fishman (1999), who suggests the systematic study of individual cases can be used to build a pragmatic nomothetic evidence base. Indeed, case studies of offenders have been used in the past to test and optimise current investigative methodology (Aggrawal, 2011;Cooper, Swaminath, Baxter, & Poulin, 1990;McCann, 2000;Schlesinger, 2002;Whit...
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