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Development of a rational taxonomy for the classification of rapists: The Massachusetts Treatment Center system
Abstract
The present article describes the further development of the Massachusetts Treatment Center taxonomic system and its reliability based upon a sample of 108 offenders. The taxonomic system presented requires extensive cross-sample and validational scrutiny; however, the returns thus far are indeed encouraging and certainly merit clinical and empiricial follow-up.
... Future research further expanded upon or developed similar classification schemes (e.g., Berger, 2000;Knight, 1999;Knight & Prentky, 1990). Many of the existing typologies of male rapists have similar themes or overlapping categories (e.g., the sadistic type discussed by Groth, 1979;Knight & Prentky, 1990;Prentky, Cohen, & Seghorn, 1985;Rada, 1978). For the purposes of this chapter, traditional adult male rapist typologies were summarized into five classifications by motivation and behavioral and offense characteristics, as presented in Table 14.1: (1) compensatory, (2) sadistic, (3) anger, (4) power/control, and (5) opportunistic/antisocial. ...
... They show concern for the well-being of their victim and do not want to harm them. As such, they show less aggression in both sexual and nonsexual situations compared to other classifications of rapists (Budrionis & Jongsma, 2003;Cohen, Seghorn, & Calmas, 1969;Groth et al., 1977;Prentky et al., 1985;Robertillo & Terry, 2007). ...
... Rather, they are motivated by a desire to achieve power and dominance through gaining control over their victim. They use aggressive but nonlethal behavior to restore their inner fears about their sexuality and masculinity (Groth, 1979;Prentky et al., 1985;Robertillo & Terry, 2007). These offenders often use alcohol and/or drugs before they attack and are geographically mobile (Craissati, 2005). ...
... Para Cohen et al. (1971, citado por Echeburúa, 1998 los violadores pueden ser: por desplazamiento de la agresión, el compensatorio, el de difusión sexual y agresiva, y el impulsivo. Prentky et al. (1985, en Echeburúa, 1998) señalan que el violador puede ser: instrumental, expresivo, compensatorio, de explotación, con agresión de cólera desplazada, sádico, con alta impulsividad, y, de baja impulsividad. Según Vázquez (2005, p. 71) los agresores sexuales pueden ser: psicópatas, sociales-oportunistas, patológicos y subculturales. ...
... Lo que podría incidir en la posible trayectoria delictiva de los OSA. Para los agresores sexuales adultos, las teorías tampoco demuestran un consenso en las clasificaciones realizadas, en especial sobre el constructo impulsividad (Cohen et al., 1985, en Echeburúa y Guerricaecheverría, 2000Prentky et al., 1971;Vázquez, 2005). ...
... Para Cohen et al. (1971, citado por Echeburúa, 1998 los violadores pueden ser: por desplazamiento de la agresión, el compensatorio, el de difusión sexual y agresiva, y el impulsivo. Prentky et al. (1985, en Echeburúa, 1998) señalan que el violador puede ser: instrumental, expresivo, compensatorio, de explotación, con agresión de cólera desplazada, sádico, con alta impulsividad, y, de baja impulsividad. Según Vázquez (2005, p. 71) los agresores sexuales pueden ser: psicópatas, sociales-oportunistas, patológicos y subculturales. ...
... Lo que podría incidir en la posible trayectoria delictiva de los OSA. Para los agresores sexuales adultos, las teorías tampoco demuestran un consenso en las clasificaciones realizadas, en especial sobre el constructo impulsividad (Cohen et al., 1985, en Echeburúa y Guerricaecheverría, 2000Prentky et al., 1971;Vázquez, 2005). ...
... There are, of course, many other typologies (Finkelhor, 1984;Fitch, 1962;N. G. Groth, 1979;Prentky, Cohen, & Seghorn, 1985). The typical assumption is that men who differ on the dimension of sexual preference will show different patterns of recidivism. ...
The increasing recognition of the large number of people victimized by sexual assault has focused considerable attention on methods for deterring its perpetrators. In particular, law enforcement and mental health professions alike seek ways to prevent sex offenders from repeating their criminal behavior. Some evidence suggests sex offenders often continue offending even after incarceration or clinical treatment. However, recidivism rates for sex offenders are unusually hard to establish, owing to gross underreporting of sex crimes. This article presents a comprehensive review of empirical studies of sex offender recidivism. It brings together data from a wide variety of studies on both treated and untreated sex offenders of all types. Because of the variety and gravity of methodological problems in these studies, guidelines are discussed for sample selection and description, study design, criterion assessment, and data analysis. With these methodological principles in mind, the results of some 42 studies are examined for what they can tell us about sex offender recidivism and efforts to reduce it.
... The sadistic rapist aligns with the anger-excitatory typology described by Groth and colleagues. These typologies have been validated in clinical settings such as the Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC; Prentky et al., 1985). Notably, these typologies were not derived from, or applied to, those who have raped their partners, yet they may be useful in the analysis of such instances. ...
... While there are a range of typological classifications for rapists, almost all can be viewed as variants of the one initially described by Cohen et al. (1969; see also Groth et al., 1977;Hazelwood, 1987;Canter and Heritage, 1990). The most well-validated of these variants is the Massachusetts Treatment Center Rapist Typology, currently in its fourth iteration (MTC:R4; Knight, 2010;Knight and Sims-Knight, 2016; see also Prentky et al., 1985;Knight and Prentky, 1987;Knight and Prentky, 1990;Prentky and Knight, 1991;Knight, 1999;Knight and Guay, 2006). There are essentially six primary types of rapist in the MTC system. 1 Three of these involve largely instrumental aggression: The opportunistic (based on impulsive exploitation), the non-sadistic sexualization (based on feelings of social and sexual inadequacy), and the muted sadistic (involving symbolic forms of sadism but no gratuitous violence 2 ). ...
The grievance fueled violence paradigm encompasses various forms of targeted violence but has not yet been extended to the theoretical discussion of sexual violence. In this article, we argue that a wide range of sexual offenses can be usefully conceptualized as forms of grievance fueled violence. Indeed, our assertion that sexual violence is often grievance fueled is unoriginal. More than 40 years of sexual offending research has discussed the pseudosexual nature of much sexual offending, and themes of anger, power, and control – themes that draw clear parallels to the grievance fueled violence paradigm. Therefore, we consider the opportunities for theoretical and practical advancement through the merging of ideas and concepts from the two fields. We examine the scope of grievance in the context of understanding sexual violence, and we look to the role of grievance in the trajectory toward both sexual and nonsexual violence, as well as factors that might distinguish grievance fueled sexual from nonsexual violence. Finally, we discuss future research directions and make recommendations for clinical practice. Specifically, we suggest that grievance represents a promising treatment target where risk is identified for both sexual and nonsexual violence.
Considerable evidence has amassed in studies of both nonoffender and offender samples that demonstrates both that sexual aggression is determined by a multiplicity of variables and that convicted sexual offenders are markedly heterogeneous (Knight, Rosenberg, & Schneider, 1985; Malamuth, 1986). Attempts both to identify sexually coercive men in normal samples and to assess etiology, concurrent adaptation, treatment efficacy, and recidivism for convicted sexually aggressive offenders have also suggested that the critical determining components of sexual aggression interact in complex ways. The purpose of this article is to survey both the offender and nonoffender sexual aggression research for evidence about which dimensions should be included in multivariate models that attempt to discriminate rapists from nonrapists, to identify subgroups among rapists, or to enhance the efficiency of dispositional decisions about these offenders.
Resumen El presente artículo tiene como objetivo el desarrollo de una evaluación forense en el medio penitenciario para determinar la presencia de psicopatología y riesgo de reincidencia, así como la necesidad de tratamiento terapéutico. El interno se encuentra cumpliendo condena de 20 años por más de diez delitos de agresión sexual (violador serial), robo con intimidación y exhibicionismo. La evaluación forense del agresor es un procedimiento muy técnico y complejo condicionado por variables como el contexto, el momento en el que se realiza y las características del evaluado. Se concluye que el peritado presenta rasgos de personalidad compatibles con el constructo psicopatía, con un riesgo de reincidencia delictiva en la actualidad moderado y riesgo de reincidencia de violencia sexual alto, por lo que se necesita intervención psicológica específica. Precisamente por la necesidad de ajustar el tratamiento a las necesidades criminógenas del interno, en el presente artículo se hace una revisión de los últimos datos empíricos sobre la psicopatía y sus tratamientos.
Male sexual offenders constitute a heterogeneous population. In the past decades, various classification systems and explanatory theories have been used to simplify and explain the heterogeneity of the sex offender population. The current chapter evaluates to what extent these approaches can assist in practical decision-making related to the type and duration of the intervention(s), risk assessment instruments, and risk of recidivism. For example, challenges are discussed related to definition problems, legal differences between countries, and study designs. In light of these challenges, a developmental life-course approach to classifying and explaining male contact sexual offending is proposed that focuses on differences between offenders, as well as a person’s ability to change their offending behavior over time.
This chapter presents a novel context to understanding behaviour before turning to the chapter's major focus on two domains neglected within the classical violent risk prediction literature; specifically, aggression and biological theory. The primary focus of this chapter is on the biologically‐related systemic approach to understanding the contexts, causes, objectives, and reasons for aggression types, psychobiological mechanisms that 'drive' these aggression systems, and the control mechanisms that regulate their initiation, maintenance, and termination. It provides existing empirical data to show how existing psychometric measures can successfully identify individuals whose aggression types conformed to the utilized aggression model. The chapter provides a glimpse into how it may be possible to harness recent technology, in conjunction with selected decision‐making tasks, to enhance the basic understanding of psychobiological mechanisms of aggression and, more precisely, interpret individuals' psychological test results, selection of specific criminogenic intervention targets and determine success or lack of intervention goals.
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