The Psychosocial Development of Sex Offenders: Differences between Exhibitionists, Child Molesters, and Incest Offenders

A number of studies have shown that there are differences between how offenders who have committed different crimes perform in therapy. This article aims to shed some light on these differences by exploring differences in the psychosocial development of exhibitionists, extra-familial child molesters, and incest offenders. Eighty-one men completed the Measures of Psychosocial Development at intake into an outpatient sex offender treatment program. Profile analysis indicated that exhibitionists tended to have issues of of trust, shame, and immediate gratification, which were similar to those experienced by extra-familial child molesters. Incest offenders showed consistently higher levels of development that the other two groups. These findings have implications for the ability of offenders to develop therapeutic alliances, the intervention strategies that would be effective, and the ultimate effects of those interventions.