Sexual offending in the context of mental illness

Understanding sexual offending in schizophrenia

“…As well as playing a pivotal role in the initiation and enactment of appropriate behaviours, executive functions are involved in the inhibition of inappropriate activities. It is conceivable that deficits in this function, producing disinhibition and impulsivity, may contribute to the expression of deviant sexual behaviour in the mentally ill (Craissati and Hodes, 1992;Sahota and Chesterman, 1998a;Phillips et al, 1999). However, disinhibition alone is unlikely to account for aberrant sexual behaviour as other factors such as deviant thoughts are important prerequisites for such acts.…”

“…Studies suggest a complex relationship between schizophrenia and sexually offensive behaviour (Craissati and Hodes, 1992;Phillips et al, 1999;Sahota and Chesterman, 1998a;Smith, 1999aSmith, , 2000Ta ylor, 1999a, 1999b). There have been some attempts to develop theories or typologies to explain this relationship.…”

“…Although this helped to elucidate motivations underpinning offences against women by those with schizophrenia, a more general understanding of possible mechanisms underlying sexual offending behaviour in those with schizophrenia is required. Sahota and Chesterman (1998a) suggested that schizophrenic sexual offenders have some deficits similar to sexual offenders in general and that symptoms of schizophrenia enable the offender to overcome inhibition and increase motivation for offending. They also attempted to incorporate symptoms of schizophrenia into their formulation, distinguishing between direct (e.g.…”

“…At present, mentally ill sex offenders are poorly served by treatment programmes traditionally designed for their non-mentally ill counterparts, and they receive little assistance from a mental health system that lacks expertise in the management of sexual deviance. Despite the fact that they are believed to account for less than10% of sexual offences (Sahota and Chesterman, 1998a), their often complex nature and multiple pathologies means they require a high level of resources to receive adequate assessment and treatment.…”

Sexualdelinquenz bei Schizophrenie

“…Erste Erkenntnisse gaben Forschungsarbeiten[2,12,13,15,16,17,18] und ein Übersichtsartikel [3] aus dem englischsprachigen Raum, die komplexe Zusammenhänge zwischen krankheitsbedingten Einbußen, prämorbi-den Strukturen und sexuellen Übergriffen schizophrener Delinquenten nahe legten. Obwohl diese Studien dabei halfen, Einflussfaktoren sexueller Übergriffe schizophrener Männer aufzudecken, sind zum Verständ-nis der Mechanismen dieser besonderen Gruppe von Sexualstraftätern weitere Studien notwendig.…”