Inspired by the pioneering work of Seghorn and Cohen on the psychology of the rapist, this study compared the relational maturity of nearly 100 juvenile offenders with the level of violence associated with actual crimes committed. Relational maturity was measured through analyses of the human-content response of the Rorschach Inkblot Test administered to each subject. It was predicted that juvenile offenders with the lowest degree of relational maturity, as measured by the production of poor Rorschach human content (lungs, bones, heart, stomach), were more likely to commit sex crimes than those juveniles with higher relational maturity with good Rorschach human content (two people dancing). The data generated support the notion that juvenile sex offenders’ Rorschach responses show poor relational maturity and produce human-anatomy responses as compared with other offenders. The discussion introduces an object-relational explanation to these findings. The usefulness of the Rorschach Inkblot Test as a measure of relational development of juvenile offenders was also generated. Recommendations conclude our discussion about the need for continued research on the relational development of sex offenders and on the human-anatomy response as an indicator of sexual dangerousness.
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