Dahlnym Yoon

Comparing sexuality, aggressiveness, and antisocial behavior of alleged juvenile sexual and violent offenders.

Sexual delinquency in juveniles is insufficiently explored in regard to the specificity of offender characteristics. The aim is to investigate relevant areas for juvenile sexual offending in a precourt, pretreatment group. Thirty‐two alleged juvenile sexual offenders (ASO) referred to by police were compared with 32 juvenile nonsexual violent offenders (VNO) on standardized measures of aggressiveness and psychopathology, antisocial behavior, substance use problems, and sexuality. Less externalizing disorders and antisocial behavior were found among the ASOs than among the VNOs. The ASO group was sexually less experienced, had less trust in their relationship abilities, fewer victimization experiences, and reported more sexual deviance, while pornography use and obscene calls were reported less often. Few juvenile sexual offenders had severe problems in the investigated areas. Including groups of offenders before court, treatment or incarceration in research appears crucial to understand the full spectrum of sexual deviance in youth and avoid misguidance due to selection factors.

Structured assessment of protective factors: a German pilot study in sex offenders

The present study investigated the relationship between risk and protective factors in sex offenders and tested the feasibility of the instrument in an outpatient setting using the German version of the Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors (SAPROF) for violence risk. The study was conducted with 30 clients in the FORensic Ambulatory program for Sex offenders (FORAS) at the Institute for Sex Research and Forensic Psychiatry (ISF) in Hamburg, Germany. Correlations between the assessment data collected using the SAPROF, SVR-20, and Static-99 were analyzed. Both risk judgments and sum scores of the SVR-20 and the SAPROF showed a significantly negative correlation, whereas there was no significant link found between the SAPROF and the Static-99. The connection of the SAPROF to the SVR-20 but not to the Static-99 reflects the dynamic characteristic of the instrument. Despite the limited generalizability due to the small sample size, the German SAPROF seemed to be helpful for the structured assessment of protective factors.

Risk Assessment in Child Sexual Abusers Working With Children

Child sexual abuse occurring in a child- or youth-serving institution or organization has attracted great public and scientific attention. In light of the particular personal and offense-related characteristics of men who have abused children within such an institution or organization, it is of special importance to evaluate the predictive performance of currently applied risk assessment instruments in this offender population. Therefore, the present study assessed the risk ratings and predictive performance of four risk assessment instruments and one instrument assessing protective factors concerning any, violent and sexual recidivism in child sexual abusers working with children (CSA-W) in comparison with extra-familial child sexual abusers (CSA-E) and intra-familial child sexual abusers (CSA-I). The results indicate that CSA-W mostly recidivate with a sexual offense. Although all included risk measures seem to function with CSA-W, the Static-99 seems to be the instrument that performs best in predicting sexual recidivism in CSA-W. CSA-W had the most protective factors measured with the Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors (SAPROF). While the SAPROF could not predict desistance from recidivism in CSA-W, it predicted desistance from any recidivism in all CSA. As CSA-W frequently hold many indicators for pedophilic sexual interests but only a few for antisocial tendencies, it can be suggested that CSA-W are at an increased risk for sexual recidivism and thus risk measures especially designed for sexual recidivism work best in CSA-W. Nevertheless, CSA-W also hold many protective factors; however, their impact on CSA-W is not clear yet and needs further study.

Protective Factors and Recidivism in Accused Juveniles Who Sexually Offended

To date, research on juvenile sexual offender recidivism has tended to focus on risk factors rather than protective factors. Therefore, very little is known about protective factors in the population of juveniles who sexually offended. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of protective factors on non-recidivism in a sample of accused juveniles who sexually offended (N = 71) in a mean follow-up period of 47.84 months. Protective factors were measured with the Protective Factor Scale of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and the Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF). Criminal charges served as recidivism data. The internal scale of the SAPROF, in particular, yielded moderate predictive accuracy for the absence of violent and general recidivism, though not for the absence of sexual recidivism. No protective factor of the SAVRY did reveal predictive accuracy regarding various types of the absence of recidivism. Furthermore, protective factors failed to achieve any significant incremental predictive accuracy beyond that captured by the SAVRY risk factors alone. The potential therapeutic benefit of protective factors in juvenile sexual offender treatment is discussed.

Ambulante Behandlung von Sexualstraftätern

ZusammenfassungNach wie vor sind die Praxis und die Wirksamkeit der Behandlung von Sexualstraftätern strittig. Dabei zeigen die Methoden, einen Wirksamkeitsnachweis zu erbringen, im Feld der forensischen Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie viele Besonderheiten. Insbesondere ambulante Behandlungsmaßnahmen für Sexualstraftäter finden in einem Spannungsfeld statt. Der vorliegende Beitrag versucht exemplarisch, Möglichkeiten und Schwierigkeiten im Bereich der Behandlung von Sexualstraftätern am Beispiel der Hamburger Präventionsambulanz des Instituts für Sexualforschung und Forensische Psychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), darzustellen.AbstractTreatment of sexual offenders is still a controversial issue for both forensic clinical practice and research. The methods to evaluate efficacy and effectiveness in the field of forensic psychiatry and psychotherapy show many distinctive characteristics. Especially outpatient treatment of sexual offenders takes place in a conflict of interest. This article aims to illustrate several potentials and difficulties in the field of sexual offender treatment using the example of the Hamburg Institute for Sex Research and Forensic Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).

Factors Predicting Desistance From Reoffending: A Validation Study of the SAPROF in Sexual Offenders:

The present study aims at validating the German version of the Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors (SAPROF) for violence risk in a representative sample of incarcerated adult male sexual offenders. Sexual offenders (n = 450) were rated retrospectively with the SAPROF using the database of the Federal Evaluation Centre for Violent and Sexual Offenders (FECVSO) in the Austrian Prison System. Interrater reliability and predictive validity of the SAPROF scores concerning desistance from recidivism were calculated. Concurrent and incremental validity were tested using the combination of the SAPROF and the Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR-20). Interrater reliability was moderate to excellent, and predictive accuracy for various types of recidivism was rather small to moderate. There was a clear negative relationship between the SAPROF and the SVR-20 risk factors. Whereas the SAPROF revealed itself as a significant predictor for various recidivism categories, it did not add any predictive value beyond the SVR-20. Although the SAPROF itself can predict desistance from recidivism, it seems to contribute to the risk assessment in convicted sexual offenders only to a limited extent, once customary risk assessment tools have been applied. Implications for clinical use and further studies are discussed.

Prison Climate and Its Role in Reducing Dynamic Risk Factors During Offender Treatment

Although several offender treatment experts have suggested that therapeutic relationships play an important role in offender treatment, empirical finding supporting those arguments are scarce. The present study has therefore examined the relationship between prison climate, treatment motivation, and their influence on changes in risk factors in N = 215 inmates and detainees in four correctional facilities in Berlin, Germany. The inmates’ perception of prison climate significantly correlated with their attitudes towards treatment. More positive climate in terms of therapeutic hold and more positive treatment attitude in terms of trust in therapy were also the best predictors of stronger decreases in dynamic risk factors measured by the Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R). Our results support the importance of treatment relationship factors within the course of offender rehabilitation.