A comparison of physical and sexual abuse: histories of sexual and non-sexual offenders with intellectual disability.
OBJECTIVE
To review patterns of physical and sexual abuse in cohorts of sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders with intellectual disability.


METHODS
Forty-six sexual offenders were compared with 48 male nonsexual offenders in relation to their experiences of sexual and physical abuse in childhood. Comprehensive assessments were taken over a period of at least one year, and were conducted independently by a range of professionals.


RESULTS
Thirty-eight percent of the sexual offenders and 12.7% of the nonsexual offenders had experienced sexual abuse, while 13% of the sexual offenders and 33% of the nonsexual offenders had experienced physical abuse.


CONCLUSIONS
Sexual abuse seems a significant variable in the history of sexual offenders, while physical abuse seems a significant variable in the history of nonsexual offenders. The results support the view that the "cycle of abuse" is neither inevitable nor an adequate explanation of future offending.
Lindsay
W R
WR
Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust, Dundee, Scotland, UK.
Law
J
J
Quinn
K
K
Smart
N
N
Smith
A H
AH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*