Stephen Walkley Smallbone

Childhood Attachment and Adult Attachment in Incarcerated Adult Male Sex Offenders

Forty-eight incarcerated sex offenders were compared with 16 property offenders and 16 nonoffenders on self-report measures of childhood maternal and paternal attachment and adult attachment. The combined sex-offender groups reported significantly less secure maternal, paternal, and adult attachment than did the nonoffenders and significantly less secure maternal attachment than did the property offenders. Intrafamilial child molesters were found to have had particularly problematic relationships with their mothers, reporting a combination of anxious and avoidant qualities in their maternal attachment experiences. By contrast, stranger rapists were found to have had particularly problematic relationships with their fathers and were significantly more likely to have regarded their fathers as having been characteristically unsympathetic, uncaring, abusive, and violent toward them. These results suggest that insecure childhood attachments may be related to offending behavior generally and that certain combinations of childhood attachment experiences may relate more specifically to different kinds of sexual offending.

A prospective longitudinal study of sexual recidivism among adolescent sex offenders

This paper reports on a follow-up of a sample of 303 adolescent male sex of fenders from New South Wales, Australia. Adult rearrest and reconviction data were obtained for 292 of these individuals. The mean observation period between their adjudication as adolescents and their follow-up as adults was 7.3 years. Seventy-five (25%) received further convictions for sexual offenses prior to their 18th birthday. As adults, 25 (9%) came to the attention of police for further alleged sexual offenses, including 14 (5%) who received convictions for these offenses. Of these, 11 (79%) also received new convictions for nonsexual offenses. Overall, 61.3% of subjects received convictions for nonsexual offenses as adults. Results suggest considerable diversity and persistence in delinquent and criminal behavior, and challenge assumptions about high transition rates from adolescent to adult sexual offending.

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Evidence, policy and practice

1. Child Sexual Abuse: Definitions, Dimensions and Scope of the Problem 2. Explaining Child Sexual Abuse: A New Integrated Theory 3. Identifying Prevention Targets 4. Developmental Prevention 5. Criminal Justice Interventions 6. Treating Adult and Adolescent Offenders 7. Victim-focused Prevention 8. Situational Prevention 9. Community-focused Approaches 10. Towards a Comprehensive Prevention Strategy

Attachment and Coercive Sexual Behavior

This study examined the relationships between childhood attachment and coercive sexual behavior. One hundred sixty-two male undergraduate students completed self-report measures of childhood maternal attachment, childhood paternal attachment, adult attachment, antisociality, aggression, and coercive sexual behavior. As predicted, insecure childhood attachment, especially insecure paternal attachment, was associated with antisociality, aggression, and coercive sexual behavior. Moreover, childhood attachment independently predicted coercive sexual behavior after antisociality and aggression were statistically controlled. The hypothesis that paternal avoidant attachment would predict coercive sexual behavior independently of its relationship with aggression and antisociality was also supported. Posthoc analysis indicated that maternal anxious attachment was associated with antisociality and that paternal avoidant attachment was associated with both antisociality and coercive sexual behavior. These results are consistent with criminological and psychological research linking adverse early family experiences with offending and lend support to an attachment-theoretical framework for understanding offending behavior in general and sexual offending behavior in particular.

Onset, Persistence, and Versatility of Offending Among Adult Males Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children:

Official sexual and nonsexual offense histories and confidential self report data on sexual offending were obtained on 207 adult males serving sentences for sexual offenses against children (98 intrafamilial, 72 extrafamilial, and 37 mixed-type offenders). The mean self reported age when offenders first had sexual contact with a child was 32.2 years (median = 31 years; range = 10-63 years). The mean age at first conviction for any offense was 30.5 years (median = 27 years; range = 12-66 years), and the mean age at first conviction for a sexual offense was 37.3 years (median = 37 years; range = 15-76 years). Sixty-nine percent (n = 143) of the combined sample had at least one previous conviction, and 80% of these (n = 114) had first been convicted for a nonsexual offense. ANCOVA revealed a systematic pattern of onset with first convictions for any offense preceding first sexual contact with a child. Taken together, results indicate that, in general, adult child molesters (a) begin sexual offending in their 30s, (b) have already become involved in nonsexual crime by the time they first have sexual contact with a child, (c) are criminally versatile, and (d) vary considerably in their persistence with respect to both sexual and nonsexual offending.

Getting into the Script of Adult Child Sex Offenders and Mapping out Situational Prevention Measures

The current study describes and examines the crime-commission process followed in child sex offending. There are two major aims in this study. The first aim is to propose a script model in child sex offending. The second aim is to show the relevance of completing crime scripts to identify situational crime prevention measures. One of the weaknesses in the current crime script literature is the absence of proposed prevention measures. Besides Cornish, only Clarke and Newman have used crime scripts for its main purpose, which is to offer a way to develop situational crime prevention techniques. In this study, situational prevention measures are mapped onto the crime-commission process in child sex offending.

Childhood Attachment, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and Onset of Masturbation Among Adult Sexual Offenders

Written autobiographies of48 incarcerated adult male sexual offenders (22 rapists, 13 intrafamilial child molesters, and 13 extrafamilial child molesters) were used to generate retrospective self-report measures of their childhood maternal and paternal attachment, childhood sexual abuse experiences, and onset of masturbation. Contrary to expectation, the offenders as a combined group more often reported secure than they did insecure childhood maternal and paternal attachment. There were no differences between the three offender subgroups with respect to maternal attachment; however the rapists and the intrafamilial child molesters were more likely to report insecure paternal attachment than were the extrafamilial child molesters. There were no differences between these offender subgroups in the frequency with which childhood sexual abuse was reported. However, offenders with insecure paternal attachment were more likely to report having been sexually abused than were those with secure paternal attachment. Sexually abused offenders in turn reported earlier onset of masturbation than did those who were not sexually abused. These results are consistent with contemporary attachment models linking insecure childhood attachment to childhood sexual abuse, and with traditional conditioning models linking childhood sexual abuse, early masturbation, and sexual offending.

Criminal Diversity and Paraphilic Interests Among Adult Males Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children

Official demographic and offense history data (n = 362) and confidential self-report data on paraphilic interests and behavior (n = 221) obtained on adult males convicted of sexual offenses against children were analyzed. Considerable criminal diversity was observed, with all standard categories of offenses represented in offenders’ criminal histories. Most (86%) of the offenders’previous convictions were for nonsexual offenses, and most (92%) of the recidivist offenders had previously been convicted of at least one nonsexual offense. The prevalence of diagnosable paraphilias was low, with only 5% meeting formal diagnostic criteria for multiple (two or more) paraphilias other than pedophilia. Sexual offenders’paraphilic interests were unrelated to the extent of their sexual offense convictions but were significantly related to the extent of their nonsexual offense convictions. The results are better explained by a general theory of crime than by traditional clinical conceptions linking sexual offenses specifically with sexual psychopathology.

Further Evidence for a Relationship Between Attachment Insecurity and Coercive Sexual Behavior in Nonoffenders

To replicate and extend the findings of a previous study examining attachment insecurity and coercive sexual behavior in nonoffenders, a new cohort of 119 male undergraduate students completed self-report measures of childhood maternal and paternal attachment, adult attachment, antisociality, aggression, and coercive sexual behavior. Consistent with earlier findings, insecure childhood attachment was significantly associated with coercive sexual behavior, accounting for an additional (although nonsignificant) proportion of variance after anti-sociality and aggression were statistically controlled. In contrast with earlier findings, maternal avoidant attachment rather than paternal avoidant attachment emerged as an important predictor of coercive sexual behavior. Examination of more specific aspects of childhood attachment revealed that insecure patterns of both maternal and paternal attachment were associated with coercive sexual behavior independently of aggression and antisociality. Adult attachment avoidance was found to be associated with coercive sexual behavior, and adult attachment anxiety was found to be associated with antisociality and aggression.

Trait empathy and criminal versatility in sexual offenders

Associations between trait empathy and criminal versatility were examined in a sample of 88 incarcerated adult sexual offenders (29 extrafamilial child molesters, 26 intrafamilial child molesters, and 33 rapists). Considerable criminal versatility was observed, with 60% of the whole sample and 88% of recidivist offenders having previous convictions for nonsexual offenses. Regression analyses showed significant associations between trait empathy and nonsexual offense convictions, but not between trait empathy and sexual offense convictions. More specifically, greater involvement in violent offending (e.g., assault, robbery) was associated with lower levels of empathic concern and higher levels of fantasy. Greater involvement in miscellaneous (e.g., traffic, drug, public order) offending was associated with lower levels of empathic concern. We argue that insufficient theoretical and empirical attention has historically been given to criminal versatility among sexual offenders, especially among child molesters. In particular, we suggest that developments in empathy training for sexual offenders may benefit from distinguishing needs of criminally versatile and non-versatile sexual offenders. More knowledge about trait empathy in sexual offenders, and about situational factors that may override otherwise normal empathic responsiveness, is needed.