Developmental antecedents of sexual aggression

Abstract

Abstract In this study, 82 sex offenders incarcerated at the Massachusetts Treatment Center were administered a brief structured clinical interview focusing on caregiver and institutional history up to age 18. Interview data were examined along with archival information coded from the clinical files. Four factors were derived from principal components analysis and were entered into a series of multiple regression analyses. There were two noteworthy results. First, sexual and nonsexual aggression in adulthood each were related to distinct aspects of developmental history. Whereas caregiver inconstancy and sexual deviation in the family wére related to the severity of sexual aggression, childhood and juvenile institutional history and physical abuse and neglect were associated with severity of nonsexual aggression. Second, contrary to previous studies of other criminal populations, the severity of aggression rather than frequency of crimes was predicted by developmental history. The results of the study suggest that childhood experiences with and disruption of caregiver relationships may be important to understanding sexual aggression in adulthood.