Development of a psychological test battery for sexual offenders against children : responses by university students with various instructional sets including the simulation of sexual offenders

Abstract

It is well accepted that alleged sexual offenders and sexual offenders against children deny or minimize their offenses during assessment because they believe that honest disclosure will result in negative consequences for them. This defensive test taking attitude makes it difficult to identify offenders as such, and to collect information about offenders as a whole.

One hundred and twenty university students were administered a battery of questionnaires under conditions of anonymity. Thirty males were instructed to respond to the questionnaires as if they were guilty of a sexual offense and facing sentencing (Guilty Group), 30 males were instructed to respond as if they were charged but innocent of the alleged sexual offense (Innocent Group), and 30 males (Male Control Group) and 30 females (Female Control Group) were instructed only to respond truthfully.

The responses of the four groups were significantly different in regard to socially desirable responding, their reports of cognitive distortions regarding adult-child sexual contact, their feelings of empathy for victims of sexual assault, and their acceptance of rape myths and interpersonal violence. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)