Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Sexual and Nonsexual Violent Offenders

Abstract

According to a literature review by Marshall (1996), presently available data have not clarified the proportion of sexual offenders who would meet diagnostic criteria for addictive problems. Our own literature review failed to find published studies comparing sexual offenders to nonsexual violent offenders on standardized measures of substance abuse. Our study is a preliminary investigation of the differences between sexual offenders (rapists: n = 72; child molesters: n = 34) and nonsexual violent offenders (n = 24) on measures of alcohol and drug abuse. The findings indicate that sexual offenders were more likely to abuse alcohol than were nonsexual violent offenders. Nonsexual offenders were significantly more likely to have had a history of other forms of substance abuse. The results are considered in terms of theories of alcohol's contribution to aggressive behavior and sexual aggression. Implications for assessment and treatment of sexual offenders are discussed.

Cross-sectional predictors of sexual assault perpetration in a community sample of single African American and Caucasian men

“…Approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with alcohol consumption [Ageton, 1983;Muehlenhard and Linton, 1987;Seto and Barbaree, 1997;Tyler et al, 1998;Zawacki et al, 2003]. Men who are heavy drinkers or who report having alcohol problems are more likely than other men to have committed sexual assault [Abracen et al, 2000;Johnson and Knight, 2000;Merrill et al, 2001;Ullman et al, 1999]. When the perpetrator is intoxicated, the cognitive impairments induced by alcohol make it easier for him to focus on the short-term benefits of forced sex rather than on long-term negative consequences for himself and the victim .…”

The Relationship of Trauma to Nonsexual Crimes Committed by Adolescent Sexual Abusers: A New Area of Research

“…Can the commission of both sexual and nonsexual crimes be predicted by similar experiences? Perhaps mediator variables such as substance abuse can help explain both phenomena (Abracen et al, 2000;Peugh & Belenko, 2001). Additionally, community violence should be considered in future research.…”

“…Oddly, drug and alcohol treatment has infrequently been discussed in the sexual abuser literature (Frey, 1995), despite evidence that substance abuse could be part of the commission of crimes and a risk factor for relapse for both sexual and nonsexual offending youth (Abracen et al, 2000;Lightfoot & Barbaree, 1993;Mio, Nanjundappa, Verleur, & de Rios, 1986). As relapse prevention models dominate adolescent sexual abuser treatment programs (Burton & Smith-Darden, 2001), the combination of the treatment targets that should be considered as relapse prevention strategies for sexual abusers evolves (Laws, Hudson, & Ward, 2000).…”

“…In several studies evaluating more than 1,400 sexual abusers in total, between 65% and 72% were reported to be drug abusers (Abracen, Looman, & Anderson, 2000;Peugh & Belenko, 2001). Indeed, practice wisdom confirms that many youths' sexual offenses are preceded by substance use.…”

Crime Analysis About Sex Offenders in Turkey: Rapists' Psychological Profiling, Cognitive Distortions and Psychopathy

“…Intoxication may also directly cause a person commit a crime (Abbey et al 2003). Use of alcohol before the time of the crime is more common among sex offenders than among other criminals (Abracen et al 2000). When the use of alcohol prior to the crime was evaluated in our study, 35.8% of sex offenders reported being intoxicated during the incident.…”