Citation

Greenberg DM, Bradford JMW, Curry S. Bull. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 1996; 24(2): 225-235.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8807162

Abstract

Pedophiles use varying degrees of persuasion, coercion, and physical force in their sexual assaults. Pedophiles may also display aggressiveness and characteristics of hostility in nonsexual areas of their behavior. This study (N = 263) investigates the relationship between pedophiles with aggressive tendencies and the degree of sexual violence in their pedophilic acts. The degree of sexual violence was rated subjectively after a comprehensive psychiatric and psycho-sexual assessment and obtaining collateral information from police reports and witness statements. The degree of sexual violence was also rated more objectively using the penile plethysmography. Strict DSM-IV pedophilic disorder criteria were adopted for this study. The authors discuss whether sexual violence in a pedophilic population is focused to sexual areas or tends to be more generalized in other physically aggressive and hostile areas.

Language: en