Citation

Friestad C, Vaskinn A. Scand. J. Psychol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Scandinavian Psychological Associations, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sjop.12732

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Several of the known risk factors for sexual violence concern a lack of capacity for engaging in mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships. Socio-cognitive deficits may be approached from a theory of mind (ToM) perspective, where lack of ability to attribute mental states to others is seen as the core feature. This study focuses on imprisoned men (n = 26) convicted of rape against an adult. A video-based measure of ToM (MASC) was applied, depicting social interaction in a dynamic real-life setting. The results showed that the rape-convicted men have a markedly inferior ability to infer the mental states of others. Clinical as well as theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Cognition; sexual violence; prison; rape