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Considerable debate surrounds the topic of whether possessing or distributing online images of child pornography (CP) represents a new type of crime perpetrated by conventional sex offenders (e.g., child contact [CC] sex offenders), or whether individuals who commit these crimes differ from contact sex offenders in meaningful ways. The current study compares groups of Internet (CP) and CC sexual offenders, with each group's sexual offending history exclusively confined to its offense category. T tests were used to conduct bivariate comparisons of group demographics and criminal histories. Rates of recidivism were examined using survival curves and Cox proportional hazard regression models. Results showed significant differences on demographic and criminal history variables, with CP offenders demonstrating a lower frequency of prior criminal offending and substance abuse, and higher rates of pre-incarceration employment and level of education. Rates of recidivism were significantly different between the two groups, with CP offenders showing lower rates of re-offense for most measures of recidivism. When controlling for background characteristics and the timing of the event, CC offenders were at much greater risk for having an arrest for a new crime or a non-sexual violent crime than CP offenders. Treatment and policy implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

This study was designed to examine the extent to which men have a greater preference for cognitions of sexual dominance than do women, as has often been assumed. We also studied the link between sexual violence and these types of cognitions. Participants were 292 heterosexual undergraduate students who completed a 56-item checklist that assessed positive and negative sexual cognitions along with measures of use of sexual coercion, experiences of child sexual abuse, and experiences of adult sexual victimization. Two 6-item sexual dominance subscales were developed from the checklist to determine how often respondents had experienced the sexual dominance items as positive or as negative. Compared to the women, the men reported a significantly greater frequency of negative cognitions of sexual dominance but a lower frequency of positive cognitions of sexual dominance. Both men and women who had used sexual coercion reported more positive sexual dominance cognitions than did participants who had not used sexual coercion. Sexual violence was not uniquely associated with negative sexual dominance cognitions when the frequency of positive sexual dominance cognitions was controlled. Implications for the link between traditional sexual script and preferences for sexual dominance cognitions are discussed.

This study investigated gender differences in cognitions of sexual submission as well as their association with sexual violence. Participants were 292 heterosexual undergraduate students who completed a 56-item checklist assessing positive and negative sexual cognitions; they also completed measures assessing experiences of sexual abuse in childhood, experiences of sexual coercion in adulthood, and use of sexual coercion. Two 10-item sexual submission subscales were developed from the checklist. One reflected how often respondents had experienced the sexual submission items as positive. The other reflected how often these items were experienced as negative. When overall frequency of sexual cognitions was controlled, compared to the men, the women reported a significantly greater frequency of both positive and negative cognitions of sexual submission. Submission cognitions were more often negative for women and were more often positive for men. Men and women who had experienced sexual abuse in childhood reported more frequent positive sexual submission cognitions but not more negative sexual submission cognitions. Conversely, men and women who had experienced sexual coercion in adulthood reported more frequent negative sexual submission cognitions but not more positive sexual submission cognitions. Having used sexual coercion was associated with more frequent positive cognitions of sexual submission for both men and women. Implications for the proposed links between sexual violence and preferences for cognitions of sexual submission are discussed.