1. Evidence for a new, five-class typology of provincial male
sexual offender and offence characteristics
Evanya Musolino1, Crystal Mundy1, Brian P. O’Connor1, and Jan Cioe1
University of British Columbia Okanagan1
Background
Replication Results
Sexual offending, as defined by the Criminal Code of Canada (1985), encompasses a wide range of criminal acts. Within Canada, sexual offences account for roughly 1% of overall offending and 9% of violent offences (Department of Justice, 2015). Sexual offending typologies have traditionally been developed in an attempt to provide a complete understanding of sexual offending behaviors (National Criminal Justice Association, 2014). This research used latent class analysis, which is a superior technique to methods that have traditionally been used, such as cluster analysis.
The present project used the typological approach to look at (a) whether similar offender typologies in the existing literature could be derived, (b) whether naturally occurring groups existed within offender and offence characteristics data, and (c) what variables were associated with the groups.
Adolescent Male Sexual Offenders
Chu and Thomas (2010) assessed two types of adolescent male offenders. Specialists committed only sexual offences, and generalists committed both sexual and non-sexual offences. They found that generalists had more non-familial victims than familial victims, and specialists had more familial victims than non-familial victims. They also found that generalists were more likely to engage in all forms of recidivism.
Replication results:
χ2(2) = 4.53, p = .03
Generalists had more familial vs. non-familial victims
Specialists had more non-familial vs. familial victims
χ2(2) = 7.67, p = .02.
Generalists were more often rated as moderate to high risk
Adult Female Sexual Offenders
Vandiver and Kercher (2004) found six sub-types of female sexual offenders, and offender age and victim age differentiated between the sub-types. Hierarchical linear modelling revealed two significant three way interactions (Sexual Assault x Related to Victim x Victim’s Age; Offender’s Age x Relationship Between Victim and Offender x Victim’s Age).
Only four sub-types were identified in the male sexual offender data
Offender age differed between the sub-types, H(3) = 82.13, p < .001
Victim age differed between the sub-types, H(3) = 68.82, p < .001
No significant three-way interactions were found.
Class Name n
Membership Probability
Mixed Victim Assaulters 35
0.94
Non-Pedophilic Mixed Gender Offenders 9
1.00
Preferential Pedophiles 7
0.95
Non-Aggressive Incest Offenders 31
0.91
Non-Aggressive, Non-Pedophilic Child Molesters 24
0.88
External Variable Profiles
Chi-squared tests revealed the following profiles related to external variables:
Mixed Victim Assaulters: More* Aboriginal Offenders, More Personality Disorders
Non-Aggressive Incest Offenders: More Aboriginal Offenders, Fewer Personality Disorders
Non-Aggressive, Non-Pedophilic Child Molesters: Fewer Aboriginal Offenders
Non-Pedophilic Mixed Gender Offenders: Fewer Aboriginal Offenders, More Caucasian Offenders, More Mood/Anxiety Disorders, More Personality Disorders
Preferential Pedophiles: Fewer Aboriginal Offenders, More Caucasian Offenders, More Mood/Anxiety Disorders
*More/Fewer refers to fit between observed frequencies and expected frequencies.
Methodology
Archival Research
Adult male sexual offender data
106 case files
January 2011 to April 2015
Inter-rater Reliability
Range: 0.7 to 1.00
Average: 0.88
We attempted to replicate previous typologies of adolescent male sexual offenders and adult female sexual offenders. Latent class analyses were then conducted to uncover naturally occurring groups in the data using offender and offence characteristics. External variable analyses were used to discover how the classes differed on important variables.
References
Discussion
Latent Class Analysis
Chu, C. M., & Thomas, S. M. (2010). Adolescent sexual offenders: The relationship between typology and recidivism. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 22, Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C - 46.
Department of Justice. (2015b). Statistics of sexual assault. Retrieved from
National Criminal Justice Association. (2014). Sex offender management assessment and planning initiative. Retrieved from
Vandiver, D. M., & Kercher, G. (2004). Offender and victim characteristics of registered female sexual offenders in Texas: A proposed typology of female sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 16,
The attempts to replicate previous typologies were only partially successful.
There was strong evidence for new, five-class typology.
The five classes differed in important ways on external variables.
An accurate, empirically-based typology may eventually lead to more effective, tailored interventions.
Fit coefficients for models with 1 through 6 classes indicated best fit for a 5-class model (entropy = 0.90).