Empathy, intimacy, loneliness and locus of control in child sex offenders: a comparison between familial and non-familial child sexual offenders.
There has been relatively little previous research examining differences between subgroups of child sex offenders. In this study, we compared a group of familial and non-familial child sex offenders attending a community based treatment program on a number of relationship dimensions thought to be important in explaining offending. No statistically significant differences were found between these groups on measures of general empathy, intimacy and loneliness, although non-familial offenders were found to have higher levels of cognitive empathy and a more internal locus of control than familial offenders. These findings are discussed in terms of their possible implications for service delivery.
Parton
Felicity
F
University of South Australia, North Terrace, South Australia.
Day
Andrew
A
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004645:Empathy; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008132:Loneliness; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012928:Social Desirability; D012934:Social Isolation; D013021:South Australia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires