A Comparison of Child Molesters and Nonsexual Criminals: Risk Predictors and Long-Term Recidivism

Abstract

The present study compared the long-term recidivism of 191 child molesters and 137 nonsexual criminals. Overall, 83.2% of the nonsexual criminals and 61.8% of the child molesters were reconvicted during the 15- to 30-year follow-up period. The two groups tended to be reconvicted for distinct types of offenses. Almost all sexual offense recidivism was in the child molester group (35% vs. 1.5% in the nonsexual criminal group). The nonsexual criminals, in contrast, were responsible for almost all the nonsexual violent recidivism. In general, prior offenses of a specific type predicted future offenses of the same type. Overall, the results support the utility of developing specialized approaches for understanding and managing child molesters.

Female sex offenders: Specialists, generalists and once-only offenders

“…They differ in the extent to which their careers are characterised by specialisation (committing offences of the same type) or generality (committing offences of different types) (Guerette, Stenius, & McGloin, 2005;Mazerolle, Brame, Paternoster, Piquero, & Dean, 2000;Piquero, 2000). Sex offenders tend to specialise more than other offenders, as they relatively frequently re-offend sexually when compared with non-sex offenders (Hanson, Scott, & Steffy, 1995;Langan, Schmitt, & Durose, 2003;Sample & Bray, 2003). Some sex offenders specialise more than others (Harris, Smallbone, Dennison, & Knight, 2009;Lussier, 2005;Miethe, Olson, & Mitchell, 2006;Soothill, Francis, Sanderson, & Ackerley, 2000): child abusers, for instance, tend to specialise more than sex offenders with an older or adult victim (Knight & Prentky, 1993;Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003).…”

The Criminal Activity of Sexual Offenders in Adulthood: Revisiting the Specialization Debate

“…As the follow-up period is extended, sexual offenders show a steady increase for general re-offending (Prentky, Soothill & Gibbens, 1978;. Despite this increase in general re-offending over time, it was shown that with a follow-up period between 15 and 30 years, 83.2% of nonsexual offenders re-offended compared to 62% of child molesters (Hanson, Scott & Steffy, 1995). …”

Efeitos individuais e familiares em crimes: Abuso sexual, violência conjugal e homicídio

“…Além disso, os resultados do estudo apontam na mesma direção dos pressupostos de alguns autores (e.g., Hanson, Scott, & Steffy, 1995;Kruttschnitt, Uggen, & Shelton, 2000;Woodworth & Porter, 2002), em que defendem que as motivações para cometer o crime são diferentes nos abusadores sexuais quando comparados com os restantes agressores (não sexuais). No entanto, os resultados do presente estudo contradizem os de Cleary (2004) uma vez que não encontraram diferenças significativas a nível do autocontrolo em abusadores sexuais e agressores não sexuais.…”