Correlates of Sex Offender and Offense Traits by Victim Age

Abstract

The authors studied offender, offense, and victim characteristics according to victim age cohort among a sample of over 800 incarcerated sex offenders. Their findings were somewhat different from those previously reported, and suggest that rapists of adults were more psychopathic, sexual assailants against adolescents appeared to be more typical family men, and child molesters were more opportunistic chronic sex offenders. The authors believe their findings begin to shed light on the nature of sex crimes committed against victims of different age.

Differentiating Sexual Offender Type on Measures of Impulsivity and Compulsivity

“…However, these findings continue to follow the pattern of results and the larger literature that rapists and general offenders are often similar with the exception of a sexual crime. As the literature suggests, rapists tend to be more antisocial and generally criminal and the data in this sample support these assertions (Harry et al, 1993;Seto & Barbaree, 1999;Simon, 2000). As Reid, Wilson, and Boer (2011) conclude, "… rapists are not specialized in the type of crime they commit.…”

“…Seto and Barbaree (1999) found that rapists scored higher than child molesters on the PCL-R, indicative of more psychopathic features (e.g., antisocial behaviors, poor behavior controls, impulsivity, criminal versatility). Additionally, Harry, Pierson, and Kuznetsov (1993) found that rapists tend to be more antisocial and to have committed more acts of impersonal violence. Further, the researchers described them as resembling general population inmates or "ordinary" criminals.…”

When is profiling possible? Offense planning and aggression as moderators in predicting offender age from victim age in stranger rape

“…However, as indicated, research has clearly demonstrated that certain conditions, such as offense planning and organization (Davies, Wittebrood, & Jackson, 1998;Kuznetsov et al, 1992) and aggressiveness (Guay, Ouimet, & Proulx, 2004;Harry et al, 1993) moderate this relationship.…”

“…Research across a range of sex offenders has consistently demonstrated evidence of a negative linear correlation between the age of the victim and the age of the offender (Gebhard et al, 1965;Grubin & Kennedy, 1991;Harry, Pierson, & Kuznetsov, 1993;Kuznetsov, Pierson, & Harry, 1992). Accordingly, researchers have found stable victim age preference in the majority of serial sexual offenders (Christie, Marshall, & Lanthier, 1979;Guay, Proulx, Cusson, & Ouimet, 2001;Henn, Herjanic, & Vanderpearl, 1976).…”

“…For example, researchers have looked at offense planning in relation to victim choice stability (Guay et al, 2001), victim age preference (Harry et al, 1993;Kuznetsov et al, 1992), intelligence (Gebhard et al, 1965), and behaviors indicative of planning, such as bringing a weapon to the crime scene (Canter, Bennell, Alison, & Reddy, 2003). In general, previous research has suggested that offense planning is inversely related to offender age, with older offenders more likely to plan offenses against younger victims.…”