The characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: a meta-analysis of recidivism studies - Hanson - 2005 - Article

Sexual unwanted behavior is part of the crimes that lead to the most public concern. Five to 20 percent of men admit to at least one instance of sexual aggression, and official records indicate that 1 to 2% of the adult male population will eventually be convicted of a sexual crime. Also, the recidivism rate in sexual offenders is around 10% to 15% after five years, but for some offenders, this is much higher. Therefore, it is important to identify the characteristics of persistent sexual offenders. When there is more knowledge about this, this can also help to come up with effective interventions. In the literature, there is a general consensus that sexual recidivism is associated with two factors: deviant sexual interests and antisocial orientation/lifestyle instability. Deviant sexual interests are defined as enduring attractions to illegal sexual acts (sex with children, rape), or highly unusual sexual acts (fetishes).

Antisocial orientation is defined as an antisocial personality, antisocial traits (impulsivity, substance abuse), and a history of rule violation. Antisocial orientation can lead to sexual offending because individuals will not commit a sexual offense, except when they are willing to hurt others, when they can convince themselves that they do no harm, or when they feel unable to stop themselves. Compared to child molesters, rapists are more likely to have antisocial orientation.

According to contemporary literature, there are a variety of factors that are associated with sexual offending. For example, adverse family environments may lead to sexual offending. Lacking nurturance and guidance, the potential sexual offender can develop social problems that in turn are associated with social rejection, loneliness, negative peer associations, and delinquent behavior. Another factor that contributes to sexual offending are beliefs that permit nonconsentual sex. These beliefs can develop when individuals try to understand their own experiences, and when they adopt attitudes of significant others. So, apart from sexual deviancy and lifestyle instability, there are three additional characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: a negative family background, problems in forming affectionate bonds with friends and lovers, and attitudes tolerant of sexual assault.

There has no study been conducted into the relationship between sexual recidivism and intimacy deficits. However, these studies are important, because sexual offenders may have problems that are not all related to sexual offending. For example, sexual offenders are at a higher risk for anxiety and depression, but these problems have never been linked to sexual recidivism.

Hanson and Bussière performed a meta-analysis on recidivism factors for sexual offenders. Most of their findings had to do with static factors, which are factors that are useful for predicting long-term recidivism. However, people who are interested in understand and changing recidivism are interested in changeable (dynamic) factors, which are also called ‘criminogenic needs’, ‘stable dynamic risk factors’, or ‘causal psychological risk factors’.

What are the used methods?

Sample

Computer searches of PsycLIT, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service of the United States, and the library of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada were conducted by using the following key terms: child molester, exhibitionism, exhibitionist, failure, frotteur, incest, indecent exposure, paraphilias(c), pedophile, pedophilia, predict(ion), rape, rapist, recidivate, recidivism, recidivist, relapse, re-offend, reoffense, sex(ual) offender, sexual assault, sexual deviant.

The authors also used lists of empirical studies and previous reviews, recent issues of relevant journals and letters sent to 34 established researchers in the field of sexual offender recidivism. Included were studies that examined offenders who were released after an index sexual offense and for whom the recidivism rate (sexual, violent, or any) was reported after a follow-up period. Researchers assessing offender characteristics were blind to recidivism status. Studies needed to include sufficient statistical information, and at least 5 subjects for all marginal totals were required for dichotomous variables.

What are the conclusions?

The best predictors of general and violent recidivism are related to antisocial orientations. For sexual recidivism, sexual deviancy and antisocial orientation are the major predictors for both adult and adolescent sexual offenders.

The study also found that factors that lead to sexual offending are not the same as the factors that are related to persistence (recidivism). For example, negative family background and internalization of psychological problems are common among sexual offenders but are unrelated to sexual recidivism. So, the prototypical sexual recidivist is not lonely, instead, he leads an unstable and antisocial life.

The distinction between sexual recidivists and nonrecidivists can be compared to Moffitt’s distinction between adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent delinquents. Life-course persistent offenders have behavior problems in childhood, engage in interpersonal violence, and have many sexual partners. These characteristics can be seen as manifestations of low self-control.