Jugendliche Sexualstraftäter: Spezialfälle der Prognoseerstellung?

This study compared a sample of 273 juvenile (aged 14 to under 18), 178 adolescent (aged 18 to under 21) and 273 adult (older than 20 years) male sex offenders modus operandi (or MO, the way in which they committed their offenses), frequency of recidivism and predicted recidivism via the static-99. In terms of the frequencies of the MO aspects we found that juveniles and adolescents differed significantly from adult sexual offenders. However, concerning the frequency of sexual violent behaviors, adolescents committed more severe offenses in contrast to the two other groups. The comparison of recidivism rates indicated that adolescent sexual offenders were significantly less likely to commit a new sexual offense, but were considerably more likely to commit a non-sexual violent offense compared to adult sexual offenders. For juvenile offenders, only few static-99 variables were predictive of future recidivism in comparison to the other groups, suggesting that the static-99 may only have a restricted utility in juvenile offenders. Further, juvenile offenders risk levels were found to fall primarily within the medium risk group making individual differentiation of potential risk difficult. It is suggested that additional predictors, which help to differentiate young sexual offenders must be investigated.     

Therapieverläufe von Sexualstraftätern

Throughout the past decades evaluation studies on sexual offender treatment have led to controversies. While numerous studies examined the effectiveness of different interventions, the possible underlying mediating mechanisms have largely been neglected. This study took a multimethod approach to investigate the measurability of change processes in sexual offenders serving a sentence in the social therapeutic institution (SothA) of the detention center in Tegel, Germany (n?=?105). A longitudinal design with three groups (i.e. waiting group, treatment group and day release group) from four perspectives on change processes (i.e. external criminal prognostic assessment, therapists’ view, staff observation and clients’ perspective) was employed. Most criminal prognostic risk and protective factors improved over the course of treatment and this effect was smallest in the waiting group. While therapists reported increased therapeutic constraints in the course of treatment, they were more favorable in the criminal prognosis and detected more differentiated patterns of needs and resources of clients as conceptualized by the primary and secondary assets of the good lives model (GLM). In contrast, during the course of treatment the sexual offenders showed an increased awareness of the criminogenically relevant problems in the sexual domain. Nonetheless, the overall number of problems they identified as criminogenically relevant decreased. The internal problem attribution in the sense of internal causes (“It is my fault”) and capability of change (“Only I can solve the problem”) was increased. The stronger the clients’ perception of own problems in the sexual context increased over the course of treatment, the more positive the change in the staff’s view of their behavior became and the more their dynamic risk factors improved. Overall, this study found strong evidence that change processes in SothA might already be detectable during ongoing social treatment. It is currently uncertain whether these changes influence future recidivism. A comparison with recidivism data is necessary and in planning.     

Konzentrative Bewegungstherapie (KBT)

A review of empirical research about Concentrative Movement Therapy (KBT) is given. Up to now 23 empirical studies about KBT or movement therapy including elements of KBT exist. Nine of those 20 studies which are dealing with KBT in its original form, have been published. Contents, methodology and results of all 23 studies are reported and perspectives of future research are discussed.     

Zur Altersabh?ngigkeit von Risikovariablen bei Sexualdelinquenz

Based on a sample of 612 male sex offenders, this study examined the latent dimensions of actuarial risk variables, their age-related development and their age-related relevance for the prediction of sexual recidivism within a follow-up period of 5 years. According to the work of Roberts et al. [25] 8 items from Static-99 and Risk Matrix 2000 were examined for their underlying factor structure. The result was a 3-factor solution, which accounted for 63% of the variance and largely replicated the previous findings by Roberts et al. [25]. Following these authors the three scales sexual deviance, dissociality and detachment were calculated from the risk variables and examined in detail. The analysis revealed an increase in sexually deviant personality traits with advancing age of the offenders at the beginning of the follow-up period. No age-related changes were observed in dissocial characteristics. Concerning the detachment scale a negative correlation with the offenders age was apparent. All three risk scales proved to be prognostically relevant in the total sample. On closer examination, however, only sexual deviance showed prognostic relevance in all age groups. In contrast, dissociality was only relevant for the prediction of sexual recidivism in the older offender groups and detachment only in the younger offender groups.     

Incremental validity of the Psychopathy Checklist facet scores: predicting release outcome in six samples

The incremental validity of the 4 facet scores (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, Antisocial) of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) was evaluated in 6 forensic/correctional samples with average follow-ups ranging from 20 weeks to 10 years. Results indicated that whereas Facet 4 (Antisocial) achieved incremental validity relative to the first 3 facets (Interpersonal, Affective, and Lifestyle) in predicting recidivism in all 6 samples, a block of the first 3 facets achieved incremental validity relative to the 4th facet in only 1 sample. Thus, although there was consistent support for the incremental validity of Facet 4 above and beyond the first 3 facets, there was minimal support for the incremental validity of Facets 1, 2, and 3 above and beyond Facet 4. The implications of these findings for the psychopathy construct in general and the PCL-R/SV in particular are discussed.