Comparing Intra-Familial and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abusers With Professionals Who Have Sexually Abused Children With Whom They Work

The aim of this study is to establish whether professionals who have sexually molested children with whom they work present as a homogeneous group identifiable by their personal histories, offending patterns, and profiles as distinct from other child molesters (intra-familial and extra-familial offenders). Participants were matched on age and IQ. It was found that child molesters who were professionals (similar to extra-familial offenders generally) were likely to have sexually abused male, or both male and female, children and had abused more than 20 child victims. Professionals were also significantly more likely to have offended against post-pubescent children than were extra-familial or intra-familial offenders. In terms of psychological profiles, professionals, like extra-familial offenders, were found to have a significantly higher level of reported sexual pre-occupation and emotional over-identification with children compared with intra-familial offenders and a significantly lower level of distorted sexual attitudes about their victims compared with extra-familial offenders. These results are discussed in the context of assessment that might be used to assess risk in those working with children in a professional capacity

Sexual reconviction rates in the United Kingdom and actuarial risk estimates

Objective: Assessing the risk of further offending behavior by adult sexual perpetrators of children is highly relevant and important to professionals involved in child protection. Recent progress in assessing risk in sexual offenders has established the validity of actuarial measures, although there continues to be some debate about the application of these instruments. This paper summarizes the debate between clinical and actuarial approaches and reviews the “base rate” for United Kingdom sexual offense reconviction. Method: A review of the literature revealed 16 UK sexual reconviction studies, 8 using incarcerated samples (N= 5,915) and 8 using non-incarcerated samples (N= 1,274). UK estimates of sexual reconviction rates are compared with European and North American studies. Results: The mean sexual reconviction rates for the incarcerated sample at 2 years (6.0%), 4 years (7.8%) and 6 years or more (19.5%) were higher than that of the comparative non-incarcerated sample at 2 years (5.7%), up to 4 years (5.9%), and 6 years or more (15.5%). The overall sexual reconviction rate for both samples combined was 5.8% at 2 years, and 17.5% at 6 years or more. Conclusions: The sexual reconviction rate for incarcerated sexual offenders is higher than that of non-incarcerated sexual offenders. The UK sexual reconviction rates were comparable with European and North American studies