Psychopathy, Deviant Sexual Arousal, and Recidivism Among Sexual Offenders

Abstract

A sample of 68 incarcerated sexual offenders for whom assessments of psychopathy and sexual deviance were available were followed up postrelease for 7 years to determine (a) rates of recidivism, (b) discriminant and predictive ability of psychopathy and sexual deviance, and (c) degree of incremental predictive utility of grouping offenders based on extreme combinations of psychopathy and sexual deviance. The results confirm previous research, which suggests that general recidivism and sex offender typologies are differentiated using information on psychopathy. Rapists and child molesters were differentiated based on measures of deviant sexual arousal. Although some of the results are speculative with respect to the groups based on extreme cutoffs, the trends support this proposal. Those who displayed more psychopathic characteristics and deviant sexual arousal recidivated sooner and at significantly higher rates. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the provisions of assessment and intervention strategies and for providing recommendations regarding prescriptive treatment.