An Updated Sexual Homicide Crime Scene Rating Scale for Sexual Sadism (SADSEX-SH)

The Sexual Homicide Crime Scene Rating Scale for Sexual Sadism (SADSEX-SH) is a rating scale which dimensionally measures the degree of offender sexual sadism in suspected sexual homicide cases. Scoring is accomplished using crime scene and related investigative information. Preliminary norms for th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 2019-07, Vol.63 (9), p.1766-1775
Main Authors: Myers, Wade C., Beauregard, Eric, Menard, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavior Rating Scale - statistics & numerical data
Canada
Crime
Crime scenes
Homicide
Homicide - classification
Homicide - legislation & jurisprudence
Humans
Male
Measures
Murders & murder attempts
Paraphilias
Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data
Ratings & rankings
Reliability
Reproducibility of Results
Sadism
Scores
Sex offenders
Sex Offenses - classification
Sex Offenses - legislation & jurisprudence
Specificity
United States
Violent offenders
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Summary:The Sexual Homicide Crime Scene Rating Scale for Sexual Sadism (SADSEX-SH) is a rating scale which dimensionally measures the degree of offender sexual sadism in suspected sexual homicide cases. Scoring is accomplished using crime scene and related investigative information. Preliminary norms for the SADSEX-SH prototype indicate that it correctly classified offenders with and without sexual sadism. This study further assessed SADSEX-SH sensitivity, specificity, and inter-rater reliability by comparing a larger sample of male sexual homicide offenders with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) sexual sadism. Two items generally undetectable at crime scenes were removed from the originally proposed 10-item scale, resulting in a final 8-item version. SADSEX-SH total scores for the two groups significantly differed (7.7 ± 3.5, range = 2-14 vs. 2.6 ± 2.0, range = 0-7, t = 5.58, p < .001). Inter-rater reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] = 0.6-1.0). Using a revised cutoff score of 6, sensitivity was 70.0% and specificity was 90%. This revised scale may prove useful for investigators, clinicians, and institutional professionals in helping to identify and address sexual sadism in sexual homicide offenders.
ISSN:0306-624X
1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X19839595