Jill D. Stinson

Female Sexual Offenders: Clinical, Legal and Policy Issues

Abstract This ar ti cle is a re view of the cur rent lit er a ture on female sexual offenders. It focuses on the demographic and clinical characteristics of this sub group of sex ual offend ers and also con sid ers le gal and pol icy is sues fac ing fe male sex ual offend ers to day.

Characteristics of Individuals Petitioned for Civil Commitment

This article explores the demographic and criminal characteristics of a group of sex offenders currently residing in a facility for civilly committed sex offenders. Legal and clinical records were used and data coded. This sample is compared to published data on a group of civilly committed sex offenders in another state. Results indicated that there were numerous similarities and some differences between the two groups. Further research needs to be conducted on civilly committed sex offenders in other states to better understand this population.

Self-regulation and the etiology of sexual deviance: Evaluating causal theory.

Recently introduced theories of sex offending, including the self-regulation model and the multimodal self-regulation theory, have implicated self-regulatory deficits as a key variable in the development of sexually inappropriate interests and behaviors. While dysregulation has been considered an important component of a variety of behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal disorders, sexual behaviors have rarely been conceptualized within this context. In this study, we have examined a number of variables linked to self-regulation and dysfunctional outcomes in a sample of 95 sex-offending men. Results of a path analysis demonstrated that self-regulatory deficits were significantly predictive of paraphilic and antisocial behaviors in this group. Implications for our understanding of the etiology of sexual deviance and future research in this area are discussed.

Assessing sexual deviance: A comparison of physiological, historical, and self-report measures

A variety of instruments and techniques are available for assessing sexually deviant interests and arousal among those who have committed sexual offenses. These measures include those that rely on objective or physiological data, self-reported information from the offender, and historical behavior. In this study, several assessment methods from each category were examined and compared with one another to determine their similarity and their usefulness in identifying sexual interest and arousal patterns in known sexual offenders. Comparisons between these instruments and their relation to known behavior are described, as well as effective combinations of assessment tools that may be helpful in better categorizing interest and arousal patterns across different types of sex offenses.

Sexual offenders with serious mental illness: prevention, risk, and clinical concerns.

Individuals with serious and persistent mental illness who have also engaged in illegal sexual behavior present a unique challenge for our legal and clinical systems. Frequently, these individuals may engage in problematic sexual behaviors which result in hospitalization rather than incarceration, and an overburdened and resource-deficient public community mental health system is ill-equipped to address the seriousness of these sexual behaviors. We have a rather limited understanding of how prevention programs, intervention strategies, and risk assessment would work with this population. Here we evaluate data from a sample of 245 inpatient psychiatric sexual offenders in a forensic mental health setting and compare these with what information has already been presented in some of the literature. Through an examination of seriously mentally ill sexual offenders and their clinical presentation, legal history, and risk management concerns, we illustrate a variety of tertiary prevention needs. Future directions in the area of prevention and risk management for seriously mentally ill sexual offenders are also discussed.