title: Sexual sadism in sexual offenders and sexually motivated homicide.
abstract: This article gives a clinically oriented overview of forensically relevant forms of sexual sadism disorder and its specific relationship to sexual homicide. In sexual homicide perpetrators, peculiar patterns of sexual sadism may be a motivational pathway to kill. Sexual sadism increases the risk for reoffending in sexual offenders. Through psychotherapy and pharmacological interventions, treatment of sadistic sex offenders has to consider special characteristics that may be different from those of nonsadistic sex offenders. Many of these offenders share a combination of sexual sadistic motives and an intact self-regulation, sometimes combined with a high level of sexual preoccupation.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sex Research & Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, University of Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg D-20246, Germany. Electronic address: briken@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Peer
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Briken
authors.affiliation: Forensic Program, Department of Psychiatry, The Royal Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7K4, Canada.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bourget
authors.affiliation: Forensic Program, Department of Psychiatry, The Royal Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7K4, Canada.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dufour
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D019468:Disease Management; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009042:Motivation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012448:Sadism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Assessment; Diagnosis; Paraphilic disorder; Sexual homicide; Sexual sadism; Treatment