Assessment and treatment of distorted schemas in sexual offenders

The aim of this review is to examine the literature related to the assessment and treatment of sex offenders’ distorted schemas. Where appropriate, the review draws upon current insights from the field of social cognition to aid in the critical evaluation of the findings. First, the review considers the various different methodologies for assessing distorted schemas, discussing their strengths and limitations. Second, the review examines the work related to the treatment of sex offenders’ schemas. Suggestions for future research, and the implications for clinical practice, are highlighted in the article

‘If you’d had my life, you’d have done it too’: exploring the experiences of adult males who rape elderly females

This study focused on adult males who have committed a sexual offence against elderly victims (aged 55 and over) in order to increase our understanding of this group of offenders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five such individuals. Interview data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four main themes emerged: life's been really tough (where participants talked about difficulties they had faced); I'm not bad, I did what anyone would do (where participants sought to explain their behaviour); Other people haven't helped or have made things worse (where participants highlighted challenges they faced in relationships and the impact they felt this had); and Coping and pleasure (which highlights the use of sex and alcohol in their lives). Implications for the practice and treatment of individuals offending against elderly victims are discussed

Using Graphs to Improve Violence Risk Communication

We examined the use of graphs as an aid to communicating statistical risk among forensic clinicians. We first tested four graphs previously used or recommended for forensic risk assessment among 442 undergraduate students who made security recommendations about two offenders whose risk differed by one actuarial category of risk for violent recidivism (Study 1). Effective decision making was defined as actuarially higher risk offenders being assigned to greater security than lower risk offenders. The graph resulting in the largest distinction among less numerate students was a probability bar graph. We then tested this graph among 54 forensic clinicians (Study 2). The graph had no overall effect. Among more experienced staff, however, decisions were insensitive to actuarial risk in the absence of the graph and in the desirable direction with the addition of the graph. Further research into the benefit of graphs in violence risk communication appears viable