An exploration of theory of mind performance among men convicted of rape

Abstract

Several of the known risk factors for sexual violence concern a lack of capacity for engaging in mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships. Socio‐cognitive deficits may be approached from a theory of mind (ToM) perspective, where lack of ability to attribute mental states to others is seen as the core feature. This study focuses on imprisoned men (n = 26) convicted of rape against an adult. A video‐based measure of ToM (MASC) was applied, depicting social interaction in a dynamic real‐life setting. The results showed that the rape‐convicted men have a markedly inferior ability to infer the mental states of others. Clinical as well as theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Violent Offending in Males With or Without Schizophrenia: A Role for Social Cognition?

“…The identified ToM impairments in our incarcerated participants correspond with findings in sexual offenders 23 , 24 and in antisocial personality disorder, 32 although it must be noted that they were not recruited because they belonged to a specific violent offense or diagnostic category and therefore constitute a somewhat different group. The reduced emotion perception (from bodies), although very limited, is in line with the reduced (facial) emotion perception reported for prison populations 21 , 22 and for individuals with psychopathy.…”

“…The prominent differences between the violent and non-violent schizophrenia groups identified here, are, we believe, partly due to the use of well-validated tests documented to be sensitive to social cognitive impairments, both in schizophrenia 40 , 46 , 55 and other populations. 24 , 56 , 57 The two schizophrenia groups were recruited from slightly different settings (inpatient vs inpatient and outpatient), reflecting the treatment regime of the violent group. Institutionalization does not appear to explain the differences, as comparisons with inpatient SSD-NV participants ( n = 5) yielded similar findings for ToM (see Supplementary material).…”

“…The Norwegian version of the MASC 48 has proven to be a valid measure, both in schizophrenia 40 and violent populations. 24 …”

“…Reduced facial affect perception is documented among prison populations, 21 persisting in violent offenders, post-incarceration, 22 and reduced ToM has been reported in persons convicted of sexual offenses. 23 , 24 Prison populations have elevated rates of psychopathology, 25 including psychopathy 26 or antisocial personality disorder, 27 , 28 conditions which are characterized by social cognitive impairment. 4 Individuals with psychopathy have impairments in facial affect perception 29 , 30 and appear to lack the implicit perspective-taking (ToM) that takes place in healthy people.…”