NCJ Number
147092
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (March 1994) Pages: 150-175
Date Published
1994
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether identified rapists could be distinguished from non-sex offenders with the use of phallometric assessments, what variables might moderate this distinction, and whether rapists respond more to descriptions of rape than to consenting sex.
Abstract
Eleven primary and five secondary phallometric studies that involved 415 rapists and 192 non-sex offenders were examined with the use of meta-analytic techniques. Study effect sizes averaged 0.82 (95 percent confidence interval 0.16 to 1.49). Only stimulus set was a statistically significant moderator of effect size; stimulus sets that contained more graphic rape descriptions produced better discrimination between rapists and non-sex offenders. There was a trend for stimulus sets that contained more exemplars of rape descriptions to achieve better discrimination between the two groups. Also, rapists responded more to rape than to consenting sex cues in nine of the 16 data sets and in all eight of those that used the more effective stimulus sets. Study results support the use of phallometric assessment to identify treatment needs and assess the risk of recidivism among identified rapists, provided that appropriate stimulus sets and scoring procedures are used. The findings do not preclude differences in motives between rapist subtypes. 1 table, 3 notes, and 63 references