An evaluation of the Empat as a measure of victim empathy with civilly committed sexual offenders.
Enhancement of victim empathy is a common component in the treatment of sexual offenders. However, consensus about the definition of empathy and the best instrument to measure empathy in sexual offenders is lacking. This paper evaluates the Empat as a measure of empathy with patients civilly committed under California's Sexually Violent Predator law. Rapists and child molesters in the current sample scored significantly higher in victim empathy than any of the original sex offender groups, with rapists scoring higher than the control group cited by M. McGrath, S. Cann, and R. Konopasky (1998). Clinicians have found the Empat to be too face valid and easily manipulated by patients within this population. The construct of empathy as applied to sex offenders is reviewed and the properties of a more adequate measure of this construct are suggested.
Hennessy
Matt
M
California Department of Mental Health, Atascadero State Hospital, P.O. Box 7001, Atascadero, California 93423-7001, USA.
Walter
Joni S
JS
Vess
James
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D004645:Empathy; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results