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Psychophysiological Assessment of Sexual Offenders: A Practitioner’s Perspective

  • Chapter
Sexual Offending

Abstract

Evaluators and treatment providers cannot confidently rely on the sexual abuser to be forthright or even fully aware of their sexual deviance. The penile plethysmograph, view time measures such as the Abel Assessment for sexual interest, and a clinical polygraph are psychophysiological tools that help overcome denial and minimization and aid in identifying, diagnosing, and clarifying sexual interests and aberrant appetites. In this chapter, I examine and discuss the literature and research concerning reliability and validity and the arguments that both support and criticize reliance on each of these tools. I outline procedural steps in test administration to help with standardization of stimuli, the test administration procedures, and interpretation of findings. This chapter also includes discussion about and suggestions on how to apply viewing time measures and polygraph examinations with penile plethysmograph results for evaluation purposes in clinical settings to increase and accelerate client disclosure of sexual deviance. Issues and concerns related to admissibility of this information in the courtroom are also discussed. I propose that using penile plethysmography, view time measures, and polygraph examination in tandem incrementally increases discriminant validity, especially with child molesters of males. In addition, this protocol can increase the client’s motivation to participate in treatment. Consequently, by increasing treatment motivation along with more comprehensive assessment of need areas, the client is more likely to overcome the problems that contribute to sexual recidivism.

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  1. 1234W. Chapman, Ste 203, Orange, CA, 92868, USA

    Wesley B. Maram

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  1. Wesley B. Maram
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Correspondence to Wesley B. Maram .

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  1. Private Practice, Morro Bay, California, USA

    Amy Phenix

  2. PACIFICA Center, Forensic Psychology Consultations, Wayzata, Minnesota, USA

    Harry M. Hoberman

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Maram, W.B. (2016). Psychophysiological Assessment of Sexual Offenders: A Practitioner’s Perspective. In: Phenix, A., Hoberman, H. (eds) Sexual Offending. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2416-5_15

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