Comparing Indicators of Sexual Sadism as Predictors of Recidivism Among Adult Male Sexual Offenders

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2010-08, Vol.78 (4), p.574-584
• Main Authors: Kingston, Drew A, Seto, Michael C, Firestone, Philip, Bradford, John M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Ambulatory Care; Arousal; Behavior Therapy - methods; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Abuse, Sexual - diagnosis; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child Abuse, Sexual - rehabilitation; Clinical Diagnosis; Clinical psychology; Comparative Analysis; Correlation; Crime; Criminals; Diagnosis; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Human; Humans; Identification; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Male Criminal Offenders; Males; Medical diagnosis; Medical sciences; Men; Mental Disorders; Paraphilias; Paraphilic Disorders - diagnosis; Paraphilic Disorders - psychology; Paraphilic Disorders - rehabilitation; Pedophilia - diagnosis; Pedophilia - psychology; Pedophilia - rehabilitation; Predictive Validity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Rape - diagnosis; Rape - rehabilitation; Rape - statistics & numerical data; Recidivism; Records (Forms); Recurrence; Regression (Statistics); Risk; Risk assessment; Risk Factors; Sadism; Sadism - diagnosis; Sadism - psychology; Sadism - rehabilitation; Sex offenders; Sex Offenses; Sex Offenses - legislation & jurisprudence; Sex Offenses - prevention & control; Sex Offenses - psychology; Sexual Abuse; Sexual behavior disorders. Psychogenic sexual dysfunctions; Sexual Sadism; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Violence; Violence - prevention & control; Violence - psychology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/a0019734

Objective: In this longitudinal study, the predictive validity of a psychiatric diagnosis of sexual sadism was compared with three behavioral indicators of sadism: index sexual offense violence, sexual intrusiveness, and phallometrically assessed sexual arousal to depictions of sexual or nonsexual violence. Method: Five hundred and eighty six adult male sexual offenders were assessed between 1982 and 1992, and these offenders were followed for up to 20-years postrelease via official criminal records. Assessment information included the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM ) diagnosis, offense characteristics, phallometric assessment results, and an actuarial risk measure (the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide). Results: Predictive validity was demonstrated in univariate analyses for the behavioral indicators of sexual sadism (area under the curve [AUCs] from .58 to .62) but not psychiatric diagnosis (AUC = .54). Cox regression analyses revealed that phallometrically assessed sexual arousal to violence was still significantly associated with violent (including sexual) recidivism after actuarially estimated risk to reoffend was controlled. A psychiatric diagnosis of sexual sadism, in contrast, was unrelated to recidivism. Conclusions: The results support the use of more behaviorally operationalized indicators of sexual sadism, especially phallometric assessment of sexual arousal, and suggest the DSM criteria for sexual sadism require further work.