Risk assessment of sexual offenders for extended supervision orders in New Zealand : basic principles and current practice

A growing number of jurisdictions in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australasia have enacted legislation allowing for special sentencing, civil commitment, and community supervision options for high risk sexual offenders. In New Zealand, one example of this concern for public protection is the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004, which provides for additional supervision of sexual offenders with child victims for up to 10 years after their release from prison. Recent experience with expert evidence and judicial decision making in such cases suggests that those involved in the process might benefit from a more thorough understanding of the current state of sexual offender risk assessment that can be provided by mental health professionals.

Typology of adolescent sexual offenders : millon adolescent clinical inventory profiles, developmental factors, and offence characteristics

The Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI) profiles of 82 adolescent male sexual offenders aged 13-19 in a community-based treatment sample were analysed to identify different subtypes of offender based on personality variables. Four groups were identified by cluster analysis: a withdrawn, socially inadequate type (n = 25); an antisocial and externalising type (n = 11); a conforming type (n = 20); and a passive-aggressive type (n = 26). Between-group comparisons showed that the proportion of adolescents reporting physical abuse by their parents was significantly different across the four groups. Subgroup membership was unrelated to victim age, victim gender, and offender history of sexual victimisation. Adolescents who had been victims of sexual abuse were significantly more likely to have had a male victim than those offenders without a history of sexual victimisation. The results of this study provide evidence for the heterogeneity of adolescent sexual offenders in terms of personality characteristics and psychopathology, while also suggesting potentially different aetiological pathways and different treatment needs.

Risk of sexual recidivism as a function of age and actuarial risk

The study of risk for sexual recidivism has undergone substantial development in recent years. The foundation for advances in this area has been the use of actuarial measures to identify subgroups of offenders with different observed rates of sexual re-offending over time. An unresolved issue within this research area has been the moderating function of age in the assessment of risk. The current study examined sexual re-offending as a function of age and actuarial risk in a large sample of sexual offenders released from prison between 1990 and 2004. There was an overall decrease in the rate of sexual re-offending over the age of 50. However, a small group of offenders from the higher actuarial risk categories of the older age groups continued to re-offend at higher rates than their lower-risk peers.

Professional issues related to allegations and assessment of child sexual abuse in the context of family court litigation

This article focuses on the challenge of dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse in the context of the Family Court of Australia. Of all cases that come before the Court, those involving such allegations are relatively uncommon. they tend to be the most difficult cases, however, and are more likely to require a trial and the involvement of qualified practitioners. The review establishes that parental separation is a special circumstance in which sexual abuse may be more likely to occur, and many allegations of sexual abuse are found to be true. There is evidence, however, that a proportion of allegations made by people other than the child concerned may be false. Whether these false allegations are well intentioned and genuinely believed, or maliciously motivated has been a contentious issue. Issues considered include the mishandling of cases, the failure by professionals to consider equally plausible alternative hypotheses than the sexual abuse of a child, confirmation bias, and the profound repercussions of allegations for all members of the family. It is concluded that all allegations of child sexual abuse must be evaluated in a thorough and sensitive manner to separate the few false allegations from the many that are true.

Specific risk assessment based on victim type in children sexual offenders

Actuarial instruments for assessing sex offender recidivism have limited utility for specific risk assessment questions, such as the risk posed to particular types of victim. In order to obtain variables that discriminate between offenders with different classes of victim, data were coded from 324 files of child sexual offenders from a community-based sexual offender treatment program. Offenders with single or multiple victims were compared, as were offenders who did or did not offend against victims of both genders, and offenders with only intra-familial or extra-familial victims versus offenders with victims in both relationship categories. Variables that discriminated single-victim and multiple-victim offenders were similar to those identified in actuarial risk assessment scales, with the exception of history of childhood sexual abuse. With the exception of physical abuse history, the same variables discriminated specific offender groups according to victim gender and victim relationship, although in different combinations. There was limited support for the notion of specific risk variables.

Beyond crucifixion : remaining christian after sexual abuse

Christian survivors have frequently likened their experiences of sexual abuse to crucifixion. While it is understandable that many cannot reconcile their experiences within their faith tradition, the question of how it is possible to move forward within a Christian framework which accommodates the experience of sexual abuse has tended to be overlooked. In doing so, this paper considers why identifying with the crucified Christ may be an important step in the process of moving forward, and why the terminology ‘survivor’ may be preferable to ‘victim’. The challenge to move forward may require churches and church personnel to consider whether they need to do some things differently. Above all, this requires integrity for the individuals and communities involved rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Commercial sex work, survival sex, sexual violence and HIV/AIDS prevention in Arumeru District, Arusha region Of Tanzania

Objective: To examine the knowledge and practices about HIV/AIDS among female Tanzanian commercial sex workers (CSWs) and assess the contextual dynamics that prevent safer sexual behaviours.

Method: The study used mixed methods and was implemented in two phases. Phase one assessed the knowledge and practices about HIV/AIDS among CSWs. Data were obtained with 54 CSWs, who were selected by using a snowball sampling approach. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with the CSWs were undertaken to allow the research participants to describe and discuss their lived realities as they perceive and experience them. In phase two, three discrete focus group discussions, each comprising 6-10 women, were carried out with 26 of the 54 CSWs who were interviewed in phase one.

Results: There was exploitation and inequity in the women's lives due to the multiple and overlapping oppressions of poverty and patriarchy. Sexual violence was framed, legitimised and reinforced by structural and cultural inequities. Such exploitation impacted not only on CSWs' lives as sex workers, but on their previous and/or simultaneous lives as mothers, wives, girlfriends and daughters. The women practised ‘survival sex’ as CSWs and/or sexual partners of men, and experienced sexual violence from their clients/partners. This violence was either culturally legitimised within a patriarchal framework or manifested itself as ‘displaced aggressive sex’ by men experiencing marginalisation in socio-economic spheres.

Sexual selection and individual genetic diversity in a songbird

Here, we report for the first time, to our knowledge, a strong correlation between a measure of individual genetic diversity and song complexity, a sexually selected male trait in sedge warblers, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. We also find that females prefer to mate with males who will maximize this diversity in individual progeny. The genetic diversity of each offspring is further increased by means of nonrandom fertilization, as we also show that the fertilizing sperm contains a haplotype more genetically distant to that of the egg than expected by chance. These findings suggest that species' mating preferences may be subject to fine tuning aimed at increasing offspring viability through increased genetic diversity. This includes external and internal mechanisms of selection, even within the ejaculate of a single male.

The role of absorption in women's sexual response to erotica : a cognitive-affective investigation

This study examined the effect of absorption on women's emotional and cognitive processing of erotic film. Absorption was experimentally manipulated using 2 different sets of test session instructions. The first, participant-oriented, instruction set directed participants to absorb themselves in the erotic film presentation, imagining that they were active participants in the sexual activities depicted. The second, spectator-oriented, instruction set directed participants to observe and assess the erotic film excerpt as impartial spectators. The participant-oriented instruction set was found to elicit greater subjective absorption in women than the spectator-oriented instruction set, and women reported greater subjective sexual arousal in the former set compared with the latter. Thus, it appears that the degree to which a woman becomes absorbed in an erotic stimulus may affect her subsequent subjective sexual arousal. Also, women reported greater degrees of positive affect when they took a participant-oriented perspective than when they viewed the erotic materials as impartial spectators. Thus, participants who were highly absorbed in the erotic film excerpt were more likely to view the stimulus favorably. By contrast, the degree to which women became absorbed in the stimulus had no effect on their reported negative affect. Future directions for examining female response patterns are suggested.

A conditional probability approach to risk assessment for child sexual offenders with different classes of victim

Specific scales were developed for discriminating child sexual offenders with different classes of victim. The project demonstrates a method of individualising scores on actuarial risk assessment measured in a way that makes them more meaningful for those involved in decision-making about individual child sexual offenders. At present, the only quantifiable approach to specific decision-making relies on a general prediction of future behaviour, based on group data. The Bayesian approach is one method that can be used to assist decision-makers to use this information in ways that lead to the more appropriate management of risk. Ultimately, the better management of known child sexual offenders will lead to fewer offences and a reduction in the number of children who lives are profoundly affected by sexual victimisation.

Conceptualizing women's sexual function : linear vs. circular models of sexual response

Introduction. The lack of an adequate empirical base for models of female sexual response is a critical issue within the female sexual dysfunction (FSD) literature.

Aim. The current research compared the extent to which a linear model of sexual response and Basson's circular model of female sexual response represent the sexual function of women with and without FSD.

Main Outcome Measures. Women's levels of sexual function/dysfunction were assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index and additional items measured women's endorsement of models of female sexual function as representing their own sexual experience.

Methods. An anonymous online survey assessing female sexual response and associated aetiological factors was completed by a random sample of 404 women.

Results. Although the linear model of sexual response was a good fit for women with and without sexual dysfunction, the relationship between sexual arousal and orgasm was mediated by sexual desire for women with FSD. The fit of the initial circular model of women's sexual response was poor for both groups. Following pathway modification, the modified circular model adequately represented the responses of both groups and revealed that a number of the relationships between sexual response variables were stronger for women with FSD.

Conclusions. The linear model was a more accurate representation of sexual response for women with normal sexual function than women with FSD and sexual arousal and orgasm was mediated by sexual desire for women with FSD. The modified circular model was a more accurate representation of the sexual response of women with FSD than women with normal sexual function.

Patterns of treatment of external genital warts in Australian sexual health clinics

Background: External genital warts are a common sexually transmitted viral disease. We describe the patterns of treatment for initial presentations of external genital warts (EGWs) in Australian sexual health centers.
Methods: This was a retrospective audit of 489 case notes from consecutive individuals who presented with a new diagnosis of EGWs to 1 of 5 major sexual health clinics in Australia. Eligibility criteria were consecutive patients aged 18 to 45 years inclusively, presenting with first ever episode of EGWs from January 1, 2004. Exclusion criteria were patients who were immunocompromised, including HIV infection, or enrollment in a treatment study for EGWs.
Results: The median age at presentation of women was 23.2 years and of men 26.8 years. One quarter (n = 127) of patients had another sexually transmitted infection diagnosed at presentation. Nearly half of the patients (n = 224) presented only once for treatment. Most often, patients were treated with a monotherapy (n = 382/489; 78%), usually cryotherapy (257; 53%). Staff applied treatment in 361 (74%) cases. There was wide variation across sites, possibly reflecting local policies and budgets. We found no difference in wart resolution (n = 292; 60%) by initial treatment chosen.
Conclusions: The diagnosis and treatment of genital warts constitute a sizable proportion of clinical visits to the audited sexual health services and require a large input of staff time to manage, including the application of topical treatments. Our results help complete the picture of the burden of EGWs on Australian sexual health centers before the introduction of the HPV vaccine.

Sexual content induced delay : a re-examination investigating relation to sexual desire

This article reports the utility of an information processing approach to examine whether there is a relationship between sexual content induced delay and levels of sexual desire as determined by self-report questionnaires. We tested this idea using a partial replication of the J. H. Geer and H. S. Bellard (1996) protocol demonstrating sexual content induced delay (SCID) in responding to sexual versus neutral words. In addition, the experiment examined whether SCID was different in people with varying levels of sexual desire. It was hypothesized that persons with low levels of sexual desire might respond more slowly to sexual word cues than others. Words with equal frequency of usage and similar word length were chosen from among those used in the Geer and Bellard study. The experiment was conducted with 171 volunteers who completed sexual desire questionnaires, lexical decision making tasks, and word ratings. The SCID effect was demonstrated by both men and women in the study with no significant variation between the sexes. In accordance with prediction, it was found that persons with lower levels of sexual desire responded more slowly to sexual stimuli than other participants, and rated sexual words as less familiar, less acceptable, and less positive emotionally to them. These findings have implications for understanding how emotional content contributes to SCID. They also suggest that further exploration of these ideas, perhaps using other stimulus modalities, may be helpful in advancing understanding of responses to sexual cues, and the potential implications that may have in better understanding sexual desire.