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Life-Course Persistent Offenders and the Propensity to Commit Sexual Assault
Abstract and Figures
Moffitt's (1993) developmental theory has garnered an extensive amount of attention from scholars across a range of disciplines, and the results generated from this body of literature have been consistently supportive. Specifically, the segment of the population predicted by Moffitt to be chronically aggressive-called life-course persistent offenders-has been found to account for a disproportionate number of serious crimes. What remains less certain, however, is whether this same group of offenders are also responsible for perpetrating acts of forced sex. The authors examined the tendency for life-course persisters to sexually assault using a nationally representative sample of individuals. Our findings suggest that life-course persisters are disproportionately more likely to be sexually coercive compared to other individuals.
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... The second trajectory is the life-course-persistent offending trajectory. These individuals display evidence of antisocial behavior at an early age (Boutwell et al., 2013;Moffitt, 1993). Moffitt (1993Moffitt ( , 2018 suggests that those following the lifecourse persistent trajectory have neuropsychological variations (e.g., minor birthrelated injuries) that are common in individuals with antisocial behavior (Moffitt & Henry, 1991) and are exacerbated by negative environmental factors (e.g., child maltreatment; Moffitt, 2018). ...
In this chapter we focus on the heterogenous phenomena of contact sexual offending perpetrated by males. We briefly review the frequency of sexual offending with a focus on general trends in the literature regarding common characteristics among those who perpetrate and those who are victimized. Our review focuses on a discussion of different theoretical models that can be applied to a broad range of sexual offending behavior with a focus on two integrated models of sexual offending and the motivation-facilitation model. Next, we consider longitudinal research on sexual offending trajectories that have been conducted from a Developmental and Life Course Criminology perspective. These studies provide greater insight into within-individual change in sexual offending across the lifespan and allow for stronger tests of different theoretical models that often include etiological factors associated with the onset of sexual offending. We conclude by considering future research directions specific to testing different theoretical models and the development of early intervention and prevention programs that include embedded program evaluation to evaluate the efficacy of these different approaches.KeywordsSexual offendingTheoryModelsDevelopment and life courseCriminology
... In line with the findings of Hackett and Smith (2018), the sex traffickers could be characterized as generalists, rather than specialists, since most of the studied traffickers had committed a wide range of non-sexual offences. Also, the results point out that the majority of the traffickers could be considered as life-course persistent offenders (Boutwell, Barnes, & Beaver, 2012). Most of the traffickers studied committed their first crime at a young age and mostly committed numerous (serious) crimes. ...
... To this point, criminologists have favored making assumptions over observations. In fact, only a handful of empirical studies have examined criminological theory assertions to explain sexual offending (e.g., Boutwell, Barnes, & Beaver, 2013;Cale, Lussier, & Proulx, 2009;Felson & Cundiff, 2014;Harris, Mazerolle, & Knight, 2009;Lussier, LeBlanc, & Proulx, 2005;McCuish, Lussier, & Corrado, 2016). ...
Sexual offending is an important social problem with potentially dramatic and long-lasting consequences. It is a social phenomenon that leaves no one indifferent. When it occurs, it demands some concrete, near immediate, and swift actions. Over the years, these actions have been institutionalized through the criminal justice system and the (mental) health system. This chapter provides an introduction to some of the key underlying themes of the book. It is argued that, from a historical and societal perspective, the chosen path to tackle the issue of sexual offending has been mainly reactive, non-scientific, based on myths, misconceptions, and erroneous claims and conclusions about sexual offending and perpetrators of these offenses. This chapter is a call for a scientific approach to the issue of sexual offending, one that stresses the importance of evidence-based policies. It stresses the need to recognize the multidimensional aspect of sexual offending which encompasses a wide range of phenomena, such as sexual violence and abuse, sexual exploitation, and sexual misconduct. This chapter also highlights the role and importance of criminology in accomplishing the objective of developing and implementing evidence-based policies aimed to prevent sexual offending. The issues and challenges of a criminological approach to tackle the issue of sexual offending are highlighted.
... Rispetto a quest'ultimo aspetto è importante evidenziare che le difficoltà relazionali sono aggravate da un comportamento sessuale promiscuo e dal coinvolgimento con numerosi partner, nei confronti dei quali è presente uno scarso coinvolgimento emotivo ed un disinteresse affettivo (Barbaree & Marshall, 2008). All'interno di un quadro relazionale così compromesso è non solo probabile, ma anche frequente, l'instaurarsi di tentativi inadeguati, insistenti e coercitivi di approccio sessuale (Boutwell, Barnes, & Beaver, 2013) malgrado i rifiuti o forse proprio in risposta a questi, dal momento che la misura della propria forza e del proprio potere si evince dall'intensità del rifiuto da parte della vittima: più il rifiuto è manifesto, maggiore è la capacità attribuita all'aggressore di essere riuscito ad arginare resistenze e ad agire il proprio interesse sessuale sulla persona (Barbaree & Marshall, 2008;Kahn & Chambers, 1991;Långström, 2001). La condivisione di credenze supportive della violenza sessuale ed atteggiamenti ostili verso altre persone, soprattutto verso le donne, che rientra nella dimensione del pensiero distorto (Liau, Barriga, & Gibbs, 1998), diventano fattori che non solo supportano la violenza, ma che rinforzano la sua persistenza (Blake & Gannon, 2008;Ward, 2000). ...
Accumulated scientific evidence shows that juvenile sex offenders are a complex and heterogeneous group, with juveniles being at different risk levels of continuing in offending in general, and of sexually offending in particular. Hence, differential attention is required to provide the best available evidence regarding the prevention of at-risk juveniles from becoming adult sex offenders.The focus of this study was to explore the criminogenic factors that feature juvenile sex offending. Psychological, familial, social and behavioral factors were analysed along with their antisocial careers in order to see whether different types of offenders and offending emerged. A sample of 50 juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) were involved in the study. These findings show that the JSOs can be divided into two main categories: those who are likely, as with other types of crimes, to sexually abuse in co-offending, and those who abuse in solo-offending. Sexual co-offenders were more likely to abuse their victims under the euphoria of being with their mates, and to be more interested in showing off their power and strength.They were more likely to threaten their victims, to use weapons and to be under the effect of alcohol and drugs. It was more likely that their sexual offence was a one-off offence.Their victims were unknown to them, and were more likely to be considered as a sexual commodity to satisfy their aggressive needs. Solo-offenders were more likely to abuse a person with whom they had a relationship; the abuse was more likely to continue over time. It was unlikely that they resorted to use physical strength or threaten their victims. Despite these findings being preliminary, they are significant in as far as they suggest that juvenile sex offending is a criminogenic reality that requires specific and differential attention, if the aim is to provide knowledgeable information to address intervention, and to prevent these juveniles continuing into adult heterogeneous or sexual criminal careers.
Criminal behaviour has previously been associated with an increased risk for several mental health problems, but little is known about the association between criminal behaviour and dementia. We aimed to examine how the criminal background (type of crime, number of convictions, length of the sentence) is associated with dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and how mental and physical health disorders and educational attainment influenced these associations. A nationwide cohort of 3,617,028 individuals born between 1932 and 1962 were linked with criminal and medical records using Swedish national registers. We used Cox regression models to examine the associations. Increased risks for dementia (Hazard ratios (HRs) 1.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50–1.57) and MCI (1.55, 1.50–1.61) were found in individuals with criminal background, particularly among those who committed violent or several crimes, or with long sentences. After full adjustment of covariates, the associations attenuated but remained statistically significant for dementia (1.25, 1.22–1.28) and MCI (1.27, 1.22–1.32). The attenuation was mostly explained by mental health problems -depression, anxiety, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, substance use disorder (SUD), and bipolar disorder- (dementia: 1.34, 1.31–1.37; MCI: 1.35, 1.30–1.40). SUD contributed the most to attenuate the associations. Our results may provide important insights to health and penal systems by showing the importance of considering the severity of the criminal background and life-course mental health when assessing the risk of neurodegenerative disorders.
Being adjudicated for a sex offense carries significant social, legal, and penal implications that are almost unparalleled and adolescents are no exception to this differential treatment by the justice system. This highlights the relevance of providing criminal career information concerning future offending among adolescents who have a record for a sex offense as they age and become adults. Based on prospective longitudinal data collected from a sample of male adolescents enrolled in the Pathways to Desistance study ( n = 1170), negative binomial regression models are conducted to investigate the relationship between having a juvenile record for a sex offense and the frequency of general offending in early adulthood (i.e., 18 years old and over). Results show that adolescents who have perpetrated a sex offense have significantly lower levels of involvement in offending during early adulthood, whether based on official or self-reported data. Findings are discussed in terms of policy and theoretical implications.
Child sexual abuse and the criminogenesis thereof are notably not perpetrated in isolation from physical and emotional abuse – although empirical evidence suggests that the most profound impact thereof revolves around a desire to escape (as a coping mechanism) into a world of deviant sexual fantasy, rape and murder. The article explores a phenomenological case study analysis of a serial rapist and murderer from birth to early adulthood, prior to incarceration – and it depicts an existence driven by fatal sadistic sexual desires, hate and lethal intent. The researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with the participant comprising of three one-hour interviews, with the aid of a semi-structured interview schedule. The study highlighted the need for a proactive response in rendering psychosocial services to the abused child.
Parent training (PT) is effective in treating early onset conduct problems (CPs), particularly when focused on altering reinforcement systems that support aggression and emotional lability. We describe PT, as well as augmenting effects of additional treatment components (e.g., child training). Effective PT alters family dynamics to increase positive interactions and decrease negative interactions, resulting in improved family climate, less negative reinforcement of emotional lability, and reduced physiological reactivity among children. Despite attempts to disaggregate PT into minimally necessary components, the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts. PT is also enhanced by adding child training, and when possible, teacher training. Early intervention is preferable, before children's CPs become embedded in deviant peer reinforcement systems.
A meta-analysis of 51 twin and adoption studies was conducted to estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior. The best fitting model included moderate proportions of variance due to additive genetic influences (.32), nonadditive genetic influences (. 09), shared environmental influences (.16), and nonshared environmental influences (.43). The magnitude of familial influences (i.e., both genetic and shared environmental influences) was lower in parent-offspring adoption studies than in both twin studies and sibling adoption studies. Operationalization, assessment method, zygosity determination method, and age were significant moderators of the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior, but there were no significant differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences for males and females.
Research examining Moffitt's dual taxonomy theory of offending has generally supported the idea that neuropsychological deficits interact with disadvantaged familial environments to predict life-course-persistent offending. Most research, however, has neglected to investigate the power of this interaction across different neighborhood and racial contexts. Using data extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Moffitt's biosocial hypothesis is tested across different neighborhood and racial contexts. The findings indicate that the biosocial interaction predicts life-course-persistent offending only among non- Whites in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Stated differently, macro-level structural factors appear to moderate the effects of individual and family risks. That poor non-Whites reside in neighborhoods that are ecologically distinct from those in which poor Whites reside exacerbates the criminogenic effects of individual-level deficits and family disadvantage.
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List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study 3. Sex differences in the amount of antisocial behaviour: dimensional measures 4. Sex differences in the prevalence of antisocial behaviour: categorical diagnostic measures 5. Sex differences in physical violence and sex similarities in partner abuse 6. Sex and the developmental stability of antisocial behaviour 7. Sex and the age of onset of delinquency and conduct disorder 8. Sex effects in risk predictors for antisocial behaviour: are males more vulnerable than females to risk factors for antisocial behaviour? 9. Sex effects in risk predictors for antisocial behaviour: are males exposed to more risk factors for antisocial behaviour? 10. Can sex differences in personality traits help to explain sex differences in antisocial behaviour? 11. Sex and comorbidity: are there sex differences in the co-occurrence of conduct disorder and other disorders? 12. Do girls who develop antisocial behaviour surmount a higher threshold of risk than their male counterparts? 13. Sex differences in the effects of antisocial behaviour on young adult outcomes 14. Sex, antisocial behaviour and mating: mate selection and early childbearing 15. Evaluating the recommendation to relax the criteria for diagnosing conduct disorder in girls 16. Life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial behaviour among males and females 17. Priorities for a research agenda References Index.
The current study investigates a number of theoretically relevant victim characteristics to determine their impact on sexual assault victimization severity. Ordinary least squares regression analysis of survey responses from a sample of 204 university women indicated significant relationships between many of the variables of interest and increases in victimization severity. In particular, risk-taking behavior, delayed victim response strategies to sexual risk, increased number of lifetime sexual partners, and more frequent exposure to pornographic media significantly correlated with increasingly more severe forms of sexual assault. Future research directions and policy implications are discussed.
This chapter is reprinted from
Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, by Susan Brownmiller (1975). Krafft-Ebing, Freud, Adler, Jung, Deutsch, Horney, Marx, and Engels were mostly silent on the topic of rape as a social reality. So it remained for the latter-day feminists, free at last from the strictures that forbade us to look at male sexuality, to discover the truth and meaning in our own victimization. Critical to our study is the recognition that rape has a history, and that through the tools of historical analysis we may learn what we need to know about our current condition. The subject of rape has not been, for zoologists, an important scientific question. No zoologist has ever observed that animals rape in their natural habitat, the wild. But we do know that human beings are different. Man's structural capacity to rape and woman's corresponding structural vulnerability are as basic to the physiology of both our sexes as the primal act of sex itself. Man's discovery that his genitalia could serve as a weapon to generate fear must rank as one of the most important discoveries of prehistoric times, along with the use of fire and the first crude stone axe. Rape's critical function is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear. A reflective comment, by Claire M. Renzetti, on this chapter appears at the end of the chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We report data that support the distinction between childhood-onset and adolescent-onset type conduct problems. Natural histories are described from a representative birth cohort of 457 males studied longitudinally from age 3 to 18 years. Childhood- and adolescent-onset cases differed on temperament as early as age 3 years, but almost half of childhood-onset cases did not become seriously delinquent. Type comparisons were consistent with our contention that males whose antisocial behavior follows a life-course-persistent path differ from males who follow an adolescence-limited path. As adolescents, the two types differed on convictions for violent crime, personality profiles, school leaving, and bonds to family. These differences can be attributed to developmental history because the two groups were well matched on measures of antisocial conduct at age 18 years: parent-reports, self-reports, and adjudication records. By age 18 years, many conduct-problem boys had encountered factors that could ensnare them in an antisocial future: substance dependence, unsafe sex, dangerous driving habits, delinquent friends, delinquent perceptions, and unemployment. Implications for theory, research design, prevention, and therapeutic treatment of conduct problems are highlighted.
PURPOSE: Whether lifetime abstainer's antisocial behavior are maladjusted or well-adjusted is unresolved. The aim of this study was to compare abstainers (defined as persons with no lifetime use of alcohol and other drugs and non-engagement in antisocial or delinquent behavior) with non-abstainers across a range of sociodemographic and mental health characteristics in the United States. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Structured psychiatric interviews (N = 43,093) using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule - DSM-IV version (AUDADIS-IV) were completed by trained lay interviewers between 2001 and 2002. RESULTS: The prevalence of abstaining was 11%. Abstainers were significantly more likely to be female, Asian and African-American, born outside the U.S., and less likely to be unemployed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that abstainers were significantly less likely to evidence lifetime mood, anxiety, or personality disorder compared to non-abstainers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that abstainers are not maladapted and are comparatively more functional than non-abstainers.