Alexandra Zidenberg

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• PhD
• Assistant Professor at Université de Montréal

A damaging belief exists that to become a victim of sexual violence, victims must be deemed sexually desirable. As a result, sexual violations where the victims are individuals whom society may deem as less attractive—such as overweight women—may elicit less empathy for the victim or minimize the likelihood they are believed. Yet, there is some evi...

Rape myths (RMs) are a complex set of cultural beliefs and attitudes that support and condone sexual violence, mainly by shifting blame from the perpetrator to the victim. Much empirical attention has been paid to how RMs perpetuate cultural norms that justify sexually assaultive behaviours, with research demonstrating that individuals who have hig...

Although research suggests that the d/Deaf individuals are overrepresented among forensic populations and unique challenges arise when working with such clients, there is a relative dearth of research examining the forensic assessment and treatment of d/Deaf individuals. Because the barriers and challenges faced by d/Deaf persons can lead to dimini...

Sexual interest in animals (zoophilia) is a scant investigated topic owing partially to difficulties in assessing the behavior outside of a clinical setting. While there have been previous attempts to categorize individuals with a sexual interest in animals into classification systems, this requires extensive clinical interviews and psychometric te...

Purpose of Review Incels (involuntary celibates) have recently garnered media attention for seemingly random attacks of violence. Much attention has centered around the misogynistic and violent discourse that has taken place in online incel forums as well as manifestos written by incels who have perpetrated deadly attacks. Such work overlooks the e...

The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled on R. v Kirkpatrick, a case that raises many complex questions regarding consent and sexual violence in Canada. Despite the complainant stating that she would only have sexual intercourse with Ross Kirkpatrick with a condom, Kirkpatrick chose not to wear one, and he was charged with sexual assault. While a...

Although there are growing bodies of literature on both zoophilia/bestiality and sexual fantasies, there is very little information available on individuals who fantasize about zoophilic behaviors. Thus, the current study explored potential differences between individuals who reported zoophilic fantasies and those who did not. Participants complete...

Little is known about women's interest in multiple perpetrator rape (MPR), as most of the literature to date has investigated men. Thus, the aim of the current study was to explore correlates of interest in MPR in women. Loneliness, psychopathy, and anger rumination were hypothesized to be related to an interest in MPR, according to previous work....

This exploratory study investigated motivations for using fantasy, monster, and animal-shaped sex toys through qualitative analysis of public online forum discussions. Despite growing commercial availability of these products, research on non-human sex toys remains notably absent from scholarly literature. Using thematic analysis, we identified fou...

Presentation on an experiential learning assignment that has been used in multiple classrooms, which has also been published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education (see https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511253.2023.2297443)

Stigma towards tattooed individuals has resulted in questioning the competency of workers with tattoos. Previous research has indicated that tattooed therapists are not viewed differently compared to their non-tattooed counterparts. However, prior research examining differences in the perception of tattooed individuals did not consider the effect o...

Introduction: Memes are a viable way to introduce students to psychology concepts and to actively engage with class content. Statement of the Problem: Given our ever-increasing engagement with technology, educators have been calling for innovative ways to engage with students who are often steeped in internet culture. Literature Review: Building...

The Saskatoon Mental Health Strategy (MHS) aims to improve supervision for justice-involved individuals with mental illness and cognitive impairments. Given the limited research on certain aspects of mental health courts, the current study seeks to add to this growing body of literature by exploring professionals’ perceptions of the Saskatoon MHS C...

This study examined the reliability and validity of the “Measure of Life Priorities” (MLP) which was developed to ascertain a person’s Good Lives Model (GLM) goods. The MLP was validated against a number of relevant constructs, and the test-retest reliability of the measure was evaluated. The MLP had acceptable reliability for both Importance (α= ....

2SLGBTQI youth are at disproportionately high risk of experiencing gender-based violence compared to their cis-heterosexual peers, although there is a gap in research explaining why as well as what this violence looks like. Part of the explanation relates to ongoing homophobia and transphobia; however, more research is needed to understand 2SLGBTQI...

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health messaging was a crucial method for managing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Canada's initial response to the pandemic involved a lockdown and multiple restrictions, as well as occupational guidelines and social assistance for both the general population and specific communities. Despite this,...

Incel refers to an online group of young males who feel frustration and despair at being repeatedly neglected on the dating market. Despite gaining notoriety for a number of public attacks, the majority of incel research is comprised of analyses of their forums rather than of individuals themselves. This provides a good contextual overview of the i...

Experiential learning is an effective pedagogical tool that has been associated with several beneficial student outcomes. Given the complex and applied nature of criminal justice courses, educators in these fields have sought to implement experiential learning, developing several impactful initiatives along the way. However, many of these require e...

Introduction: Memes are a viable way to introduce students to psychology concepts and to actively engage with class content. Statement of the Problem: Given our ever increasing engagement with technology, educators have been calling for innovative ways to engage with students who are digital natives. Literature Review: Building on Kath et al. (2022...

For scenarios involving female victims of sexual violence, attractiveness and, more specifically, body weight seem to have an effect on perceptions of victims and perpetrators. As it is assumed that sexual victimisation is a result of sexual attraction to the victim by the perpetrator, female victims who are viewed as unattractive may not be seen a...

Unlabelled: Incels-a ragtag collection of young males who have rallied around their shared experience of romantic rejection-have slowly emerged as an online group of interest to researchers, no doubt as a result of several high-profile attacks. Much of this work has centered around incels' dating experiences, sexual attitudes, and online forums. H...

Arts-based teaching methods have been used to enhance higher education teaching across disciplines including medicine (Emami et al., 2021; Smith et al., 2021; Yakhforoshha et al., 2018) and teacher education (Srivastava et al., 2019; Zakaria et al., 2019). Integrating art throughout the curriculum can be a transformative force that presses students...

There has been little study of animal sexual abuse (ASA). Subsequently, little is known about veterinary medical professionals' (e.g., Veterinarians, Veterinary Technicians, Veterinary Nurses) knowledge of ASA and how they may contribute to the prevention of ASA. Thus, the objective of this paper is to comprehensively study ASA in a sample of veter...

Housing inmates, particularly those living with mental health concerns, is a very expensive prospect. Mental health courts (MHCs) are designed to divert justice-involved individuals living with mental health concerns away from the traditional criminal justice system and to mitigate some of the issues commonly seen in these systems. Given this diver...

For scenarios involving female victims of sexual violence, attractiveness and, more specifically, body weight seem to have an effect on perceptions of victims and perpetrators. As it is assumed that sexual victimization is a result of sexual attraction to the victim by the perpetrator, female victims who are viewed as unattractive may not be seen a...

Incels-a ragtag collection of young males who have rallied around their shared experience of romantic rejection-have slowly emerged as an online group of interest to researchers, no doubt as a result of several high-profile attacks. Much of this work has centered around incels' dating experiences, sexual attitudes, and online forums. However, it is...

Incel refers to an online group of young males who feel frustration and despair at being repeatedly neglected on the dating market. Despite several high-profile attacks, the majority of incel research is comprised of qualitative analyses of their forums. This provides a good contextual overview of the incel community but does not capture the experi...

Purpose of review: Incels (involuntary celibates) have recently garnered media attention for seemingly random attacks of violence. Much attention has centered around the misogynistic and violent discourse that has taken place in online incel forums as well as manifestos written by incels who have perpetrated deadly attacks. Such work overlooks the...

Clinical psychology students and practitioners are conventionally advised to “cover up” their tattoos, as they may be deemed unprofessional by clients and risk hindering the working alliance. While this may seem reasonable on the surface, the only research available on the topic has focused on psychologists’ self-perceptions and perceptions of tatt...

Despite real life examples of injustices in the criminal justice system involving d/Deaf individuals and calls from advocacy groups for more awareness and training related to this issue, there has been very little research into the area. The research that does exist is piecemeal and generally focuses on a specific area of the system, ignoring the m...

Sexual interest in and contact with animals has existed throughout history with varying levels of practice and acceptance. Despite this long history, very little is actually known about human sexual interest in animals and sexual behavior targeting nonhuman animals. The present dissertation aims to explore the phenomenon of sexual interest in anima...

Introduction: While overweight women report higher rates of sexual violence than women of other weight categories, there exist biases that undermine people’s perceptions of these experiences (Tilley, 2015). Specifically, overweight women are often attributed as being less sexually desirable, skilled, and experienced, which some believe is necessary...

Introduction: Overweight women are subject to a set of prejudicial attitudes referred to as anti-fat attitudes. These attitudes presume that overweight women are undesirable and, therefore, should be grateful for any sexual attention including rape (Clarke & Stermac, 2011). Similar to anti-fat attitudes, rape myths are a set of false, prejudicial a...

The risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model of correctional intervention is widely used around the world to guide offender assessment and intervention by correctional practitioners and agencies. Its core tenants (RNR) direct who should be targeted (moderate- and high-risk offenders), what should be targeted (each offender’s criminogenic needs), and how...

Although empirical evidence supports a relationship between religiosity and criminal behavior, debate continues about the theoretical mechanisms by which they are related. Moreover, the topic has been largely ignored by practicing clinicians and correctional workers. The Muslim Religiosity-Personality Inventory: Abridged was administered to low-ris...

Childhood sexual abuse is believed to be a main factor in the development of childhood concerning sexual behaviour (CSB; Boisvert et al., 2015). Researchers’ estimate that up to 28% of victims engage in CSBs (Kendal-Tackett et al., 1993; Pithers et al., 1998); therefore, with most victims not engaging in CSBs, focusing on sexual abuse as an etiolog...

Physical inactivity in society has reached pandemic level proportions. Research suggests that almost a third of the world does not meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity resulting in an increase in inactivity-related health issues (Kohl et al, 2012). Studies have revealed that for individuals living with a disability, physical inact...

Introduction: Sexual coercion and sexual violence are widespread issues in current society (Rosenthal, 1997). Though sexual violence is generally considered one of society’s most deviant and horrific behaviours, research has demonstrated that certain factors can influence perceptions and blame in situations of sexual coercion (Davis et al., 1993)....

Paraphilias are described as intense, recurring sexual arousal, fantasies, and urges that cause distress to the individual experiencing them (Milner, Dopke, & Crouch, 2008). There are a variety of sexual desires that fall into the catagory of paraphilias including desire for nonhuman objects, the desire for humiliation of one’s self or one’s partne...