Research has shown child sexual abuse (CSA) within youth-serving organizations (YSOs) often went undetected for decades, which may in part be due to the use of sexual grooming behaviors. One such YSO is the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), with nearly 100,000 individuals alleging CSA within this organization. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of CSA within the BSA and the presence of sexual grooming behaviors as described by the Sexual Grooming Model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile studies indicate that individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) are overrepresented among those incarcerated for sexual offenses, there is a paucity of research with respect to risk assessment for this population, particularly among incarcerated U.S. samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a global problem that is preventable. Sexual grooming behaviors have been deemed an integral part of CSA for the purpose of avoiding detection and preventing disclosure. Many of these behaviors are reported more often by adults who experienced CSA as compared to those that did not (Jeglic et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Identifying sexual grooming behaviors holds potential to reduce the occurrence of child sexual abuse (CSA) and increase disclosure rates. Given the influential role parents play in CSA prevention and the lack of previous research examining parent-specific sexual grooming recognition abilities, this study examined both generalized adult (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about the extent to which youths who commit harmful sexual behaviors (HSBs) against another minor utilize sexual grooming during the offense process. This study examined sexual grooming behaviors reported by adults ( = 250) who experienced HSBs by another minor during their childhood. Participants completed a self-report survey which included the Sexual Grooming Scale - Victim Version (SGS-V).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChild sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive global problem. To date, prevention efforts have largely focused on legislative efforts, parent and child education, and environmental protections. Due to the proliferation of the Internet, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, recent prevention efforts have focused on online CSA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Sex trafficking is a significant global problem that results in millions of individuals being sexually exploited annually. This paper will provide an overview of recent research in the field of sex trafficking and evaluate findings to provide recommendations for future research and policy work.
Recent Findings: In recent years, there has been an increase in research focused on understanding sex trafficking and how it can be prevented.
There is evidence that clergy who commit child sexual abuse (CSA) may utilize sexual grooming behaviors in the offense process consistent with a content-validated model (Sexual Grooming Model; SGM). Although research has examined differences in characteristics between clergy with single versus multiple CSA victims, little is known about how sexual grooming behaviors may vary between these groups. The present study utilized a large sample of alleged clergy sexual abuse incidents ( = 10,667) to examine the differences in reported sexual grooming behaviors for victims who experienced abuse by an individual who had a single (V-SVOs) or multiple (V-MVOs) victims.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sexual Grooming is the deceptive process wherein a would-be perpetrator prepares a child for sexual abuse (CSA) and prevents disclosure and detection. It is often difficult to detect sexual grooming because some grooming behaviors resemble normal adult-child interactions. To prevent CSA, it is vital to identify sexual grooming behaviors that can be considered "red flag" behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex offender laws were designed to decrease sexual violence. The current mixed methods study examined attitudes and opinions of parole and probation officers who have supervised individuals convicted of sexual offenses ( = 361) regarding sex offender legislation and how these policies can be most effective in preventing recidivism. About half of the officers reported that registration and notification, sexually violent predator and Halloween laws were largely effective in preventing sexual victimization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Correct Health Care
October 2022
Research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can decrease recidivism for those who sexually offend. The use of CBT for the treatment of those who sexually offend is recommended as part of the responsivity principle of the risk-needs-responsivity model. However, in recent years there has been a movement in the field to incorporate elements of positive psychology and strengths-based approaches such as the Good Lives Model into correctional treatment to increase motivation, retention, and program engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEducator sexual misconduct is a serious problem in the United States (U.S.), with a 2004 Department of Education report estimating that 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prevalence rates of paraphilic interests and disorders in the general population have been understudied, in large part due to the lack of a standardized assessment measure. As a result, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( provides little information regarding the prevalence of paraphilic disorders. The present study involved the development of a self-report measure, (), that can be used to assess for the eight paraphilic interests/disorders in the for use with general population samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInitial research has indicated that college students have experienced numerous stressors as a result of the pandemic. The current investigation enrolled the largest and most diverse sample of college students to date ( = 4714) from universities in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ), the epicenter of the North American pandemic in Spring 2020. We described the impact on the psychological, academic, and financial health of college students who were initially most affected and examined racial/ethnic group differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFollowing the exposure of child sexual abuse (CSA) within the U.S. Catholic Church, it was postulated that many of these cases went unreported because sexual grooming was involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Offender Ther Comp Criminol
August 2024
Research indicates that individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are overrepresented among sexual offenders, and that those with ID might differ from those without ID in terms of the etiology of offending behavior. Despite this, few studies have explored ID using incarcerated U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccording to official statistics, two percent of those who commit sex crimes are women, most of which involve child victims. However, victimization surveys suggest the true rate of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse is significantly higher than official statistics, and that it is under-detected and under-reported. Compared to men, relatively little is known about the behaviors and tactics that females employ to perpetrate child sexual abuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProviding treatment to those who have committed sexual offenses can be difficult and challenging work. Older studies have suggested that service providers may experience changes in mood, symptoms of trauma, and countertransference reactions due to their work. Recent research has found that effective coping and self-care strategies may mitigate these negative outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychiatr Psychol Law
April 2021
Substance use is often involved in sexual offending. Understanding the ways in which substances are used in sexual offending is critical for developing prevention strategies. The present study explored the ways that substances are involved in the perpetration of sexual abuse against adults and minors, including intoxication and supplying substances to victims by individuals convicted of sexual offenses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisclosure rates of child sexual abuse (CSA) to both social supports and law enforcement are concerningly low, although more research is needed to understand factors that impact disclosure. Thus, the present study examined rates of informal (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInternet predation of minors has become a focus of child sexual abuse research and legislation. Studies reveal that many American youth report experiencing sexual solicitation and sexual grooming online, but the youth perspective of these experiences has not been examined. This study examined retrospective perspectives of online sexual solicitation and grooming experienced as a minor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual grooming has been deemed an integral part of the child sexual abuse process. However, there has yet to be a universally accepted model for this process and, as a consequence, there is no clear understanding of which behaviors constitute sexual grooming. One proposed model of in-person sexual grooming outlined five stages of the process: 1) victim selection, 2) gaining access and isolating a child, 3) trust development, 4) desensitization to sexual content and physical contact, and 5) maintenance following the abuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychiatr Psychol Law
February 2020
Deviant sexual fantasy is identified as a risk factor for sexual offending, yet no study has examined deviant sexual fantasy across the lifespan in nonoffending adult males. To bridge this gap, this study examined the frequencies of normative and deviant sexual fantasies among 318 nonoffending adult males in the United States. Participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk™.
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