DSM-5 personality trait facets amongst child molesters: an exploratory comparison with other types of offenders

Abstract

Background DSM-5 provided a dimensional model of personality disorders which may be more clinically informative for the assessment and management of prisoners than a categorical one, as diagnoses of personality disorders alone cannot explain the type of violence. The role of DSM-5 personality facets is however understudied in child molesters, and no study compared these clinical features between individuals who have committed sex crime against children and those who have committed other types of crime. The present study compared DSM-5 personality trait facets between prisoners who had committed sex crime against children, prisoners who had committed property crime (i.e., robbery, fraud) and those who had committed crime against the person (i.e., homicide, assault or violence not implying a sexual element). A further aim was to explore which facets were associated with sex crime against children as compared with the other types of crime, controlling for socio-demographics (age, gender), psychiatric comorbidity (presence of any psychiatric diagnoses) and general psychopathy traits. Methods One hundred sixty-seven prisoners participated (91 had committed sex crime against children, 25 property crime, and 51 committed a crime against the person) and completed the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Results Prisoners who had committed sex crime against children reported higher Restricted Affectivity traits than those who had committed property crime and crime against the person and higher Irresponsibility traits than those who had committed property crime. The results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that on the one hand being a man, having a higher age, and the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity were more likely to be related to sex crime than property crime, on the other hand higher Irresponsibility personality traits, being a man, and the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity were more likely to be related to sex crime against children than crime against the person. Conclusions The Irresponsibility facet might be specific to child molesters and can differentiate this group from offenders who have committed other crime types. This facet might be considered a key target of a tailored assessment and treatment planning during clinical practice with child molesters.

Integrative Dimensional Personality Inventory for ICD-11: Development and Evaluation in the Peruvian Correctional Setting

“…The external criteria validity results found in this research are similar to those obtained in a study conducted in Italy (Ferretti et al, 2021), in which high irresponsibility (disinhibition) and high restricted affectivity (detachment) predicted child sexual abuse (β = -.60 and β = -1.17, respectively), and irresponsibility (disinhibition) predicted crimes against the person (β = .017). Similarly, it is partially similar to a study carried out in Huancayo, Peru, with child sexual abuse offenders (Medina, 2021), in which high prevalence of an obsessive-compulsive clinical pattern (anankastia) was found (41.5%).…”

Sexual pleasure as forbidden secret: a single-case study into emotion-focused therapy with an emotionally avoidant client who committed sexual offences

“…Forensic treatment has long emphasized the need for ISO's to control negative or intense emotions without paying attention to emotional avoidance in some clients. Experiential avoidance, however, is a common factor in many ISOs (Byrne et al, 2014;Ferretti et al, 2021), especially those with narcissistic or avoidant personality traits or disorders. It is therefore important to explore if and how emotionally avoidant clients, who are obliged to follow treatment, can become engaged in a change process (Day, 2009).…”

Are mental disorders associated with recidivism in men convicted of sexual offenses?

“…Although this relationship is regularly referred to as being a general prejudice, 3 different mental disorders, including psychotic, bipolar, substance use, and personality disorders are indeed—particularly if untreated—related to a higher risk of general and violent offending 4–7 . Individuals convicted of sexual offenses (ICSO) were found to be diagnosed with mental disorders at an even higher rate compared with other offending populations 8–10 . Whether or not mental disorders are also related to sexual reoffending is still unclear though 11 .…”

“…sexual offenses (ICSO) were found to be diagnosed with mental disorders at an even higher rate compared with other offending populations. [8][9][10] Whether or not mental disorders are also related to sexual reoffending is still unclear though. 11 Paraphilic disorders, however, are well accepted to be of particular importance in sexual offending, and sexual deviance is deemed as one of the most relevant risk factors for sexual recidivism in ICSO.…”