Sexual arousal in rapists (original) (raw)
Related papers
Sexual Arousal in Rapists as Measured by Two Stimulus Sets
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2000
Some uncertainty exists in the literature regarding the status of phallometric testing with rapists. Although Quinsey and colleagues (1981) argue that rapists can be distinguished from nonsexual offenders with appropriate phallometric tests, Marshall (in press) argues that the validity of such testing is not proved, and that findings supportive of the testing are a artifact of population differences (i.e., psychiatric vs. correctional) and not reflective of rapists overall. The current study attempts to clarify this issue by testing rapists, child molesters, and mixed offenders (those with both adult and child victims) in a prison setting with both the Barbaree and Quinsey stimulus sets. It was hypothesized that rapists would be found to have more deviant rape indices when tested with the Quinsey stimulus set than with the Barbaree set. However, neither stimulus set distinguished the three groups in terms of the rape indices, whereas the rape index calculated from the Quinsey stimulus set was slightly more deviant than the one calculated from the Barbaree set. However, only 25% of rapists were classified as deviant using a rape index cutoff of 1.0. This finding is discussed in terms of the sexual preference hypothesis.
Sexual arousal among rapist subtypes
Journal of Sexual Aggression, 2008
Phallometric data are reported on 128 rapists who were classified according to the Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC-3R) criteria. These offenders were assessed used two widely used phallometric assessments for sexual arousal to rape, the Oakridge stimulus set and the Barbaree stimulus set. It was hypothesized that those men classified as sadistic would have more deviant sexual preferences according to the Oakridge set; however, this hypothesis was not supported. Rather, it was found that sadistic offenders were deviant with both stimulus sets, while opportunistic offenders were not deviant with either. Results are discussed in terms of recent findings from other studies.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and …, 2001
The phallometric responses of child molesters and rapists were assessed using two assessments of sexual arousal to children. Groups responded to both audiotaped depictions of sexual activity with children and to a set of slides of nude adults and children. Analyses revealed that the audiotaped child sexual violence assessment was as effective as the slide assessment in discriminating child molesters from rapists. It was also found that rapists displayed some degree of deviant response to both stimulus sets.
The sensitivity of phallometric measures with rapists
Annals of Sex Research, 1993
The sensitivity of phallometric m e a s u r e s with rapists was investigated using individual rape indices of rapists and non-sex offenders from 14 published and u n p u b l i s h e d data sets. Sensitivity (the probability of detecting deviant sexual arousal among rapists) was determined by alternately setting the specificity (the probability of not detecting deviant sexual arousal among non-sex offenders) at 70%, 80% or 90%. Eight data sets showed sensitivity values equal to, or greater than, 60% w h e n specificity was set at 90%. Stimulus sets t h a t contained more brutal and graphic descriptions of rape produced higher sensitivity values. A conservative rape index cut-off score of 1.0 seems optimal in t h a t it yields moderate sensitivity values while minimizing the n u m b e r of individuals who are falsely classified as presenting deviant sexual arousal. Conditions t h a t m a y increase the sensitivity of phallometric assessments are presented and discussed. Lalumi~re, M.L., & Quinsey, V.L. (1993). The sensitivity of phallometric measures with rapists. Anna/s of Sex Research, 6, 123-138.
Dissimulation in phallometric testing of rapists' sexual preferences
Archives of sexual behavior, 1999
Sexual preferences of 38 rapists were assessed phallometrically with and without a semantic tracking task in a counterbalanced design. Four categories of audiotaped vignettes describing neutral interactions, consenting sex, rape, and nonsexual violence were employed as stimuli. In the semantic tracking task, participants were instructed to press one button when violent events were described in the vignette and another when sexual activities were described. Phallometric assessment with the semantic task better discriminated between rapists and non-sex-offender participants (from an earlier study) than the same assessment without the task. Among four rapists who had previous experience with phallometric testing, there was a very strong correlation between deviance scores and tracking accuracy. Results suggest that the semantic task may improve discriminant validity, particularly among sex offenders who have had previous experience with phallometric assessment.
Phallometric assessment of rapists: A critical review of the research
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2009
There is disagreement in the literature as to utility of phallometry with rapists. The present article attempts to shed light on the basis for these contradictory conclusions. First, the theoretical rationale for assessing sexual interest via phallometry is discussed. Second, all the recent (i.e., since 1994) studies that have used phallometric assessment to measure sexual arousal in convicted rapists or self-identified sexual aggressors are individually reviewed and critiqued. Following critiques of individual studies, strengths and weaknesses of the literature are listed and overall conclusions are drawn. Lastly, needed improvements and directions for future research as to sexual preferences of rapists are discussed.
Criterion-related validity of a phallometric test for paraphilic rape and sadism
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1996
Eight men admitting to sadistic fantasies or urges (fantasizers), 7 sadistic rapists (sadists), 14 nonsadistic rapists, 31 courtship-disordered men (men displaying exhibitionism, voyeurism, frotteurism, or a combination of these paraphilias), and 20 community controls were compared on their relative phallometric responses to stimuli depicting rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence. This study extended previous research by including a group of men who admitted to having sadistic fantasies or urges, in contrast to rapists who are likely to deny any such interests because of possible legal or social sanctions, and by including a large comparison group of men with a paraphilia other than sadism. Criterion-related validity was greater after combining the sadistic and nonsadistic rapists: fantasizers, sadists, and rapists did not differ from each other; fantasizers differed from community controls in their relative responses to rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence; rapists differed from community controls in their relative responses to violent rape and nonsexual violence; and courtship-disordered men differed from community controls in their relative responses to nonsexual violence.
J Consult Clin Psychol, 1990
It is argued that methodological problems in Hall, Proctor, and Nelson's (1988) comparison of phallometric data on child molesters and rapists include confounding of stimulus category and duration, omission of neutral stimuli and a normal control group, failure to employ relative measures of sexual preference, and failure to exclude subjects who did not respond to the sexual stimuli. Quinsey and Laws maintain that, although these methodological problems preclude accepting the conclusions drawn in Hall et al.'s article, the problems illustrate the need to develop common methodological standards for phallometric research on sexual offenders.