Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T14:34:18.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Male Mentally Handicapped Sex Offenders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kenneth Day
Kenneth Day*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust, Northgate Hospital, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 3BP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Sex offences are overrepresented in the mentally handicapped, but information about the characteristics and offence behaviour of this group is limited.

Method

A retrospective case note survey was made of 47 male patients referred for antisocial sexual behaviour.

Results

Of 191 offences and/or incidents committed, 55.5% were heterosexual, 24% indecent exposure, 12.4% homosexual, 13.6% serious and 3.6% involved physical assault. Average age of the offenders was 23.9 years, with a mean IQ of 59.5, and there was a high prevalence of family psychopathology, psychiatric illness, minor physical disabilities, sexual experience, impaired relationship skills and sexual recidivism. Recidivists showed a low specificity for offence type and age and sex of victim. Categorical analysis differentiated a ‘sex offences only’ group from a ‘sex plus other offences’ group in the key areas of psychopathology, offence behaviour and outcome; this was supported by factor analysis.

Conclusion

The finding of two subgroups of mentally handicapped male sex offenders has important implications for prevention, assessment and treatment.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 165 , Issue 5 , November 1994 , pp. 630 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bluglass, R. (1980) Indecent exposure in the West Midlands. In Sex Offenders in the Criminal Justice System (ed. West, D. J.), pp. 171–180. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Buhrich, N. (1978) Motivation for cross dressing in heterosexual transvestism. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 57, 145–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Day, K. (1988) A hospital based treatment programme for male mentally handicapped offenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 635–644.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Day, K. (1993) Crime and mental retardation: a review. In Clinical Approaches to the Mentally Disordered Offender (eds Howell, K. & Hollins, C. R.), pp. 111–144. Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Doctor, R. E. (1988) Transvestites and Transsexuals: Towards a Theory of Cross Gender Behaviour. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgerton, R. B. (1986) Alcohol and drug use by mentally retarded adults. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 90, 602–609.Google Scholar
Fowles, M. W. (1977) Sexual offenders in Rampton. In Sex Offenders (ed. Gunn, J.). Report No. 14. London: DHSS.Google Scholar
Gebhard, P. H., Gagnon, J. H., Pomeroy, W. B., et al (1965) Sex Offenders:. an Analysis of Types. Heinemann: London.Google Scholar
Gilby, R., Woolf, L. & Goldberg, B. (1989) Mentally retarded adolescent sex offenders. A survey and pilot study. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 542–548.Google Scholar
Hingsburger, D. (1987) Sex counselling with the developmentally handicapped. The assessment and management of seven critical problems. Psychiatric Aspects of Mental Retardation Reviews, 6, 41–46.Google Scholar
Home Office (1988) Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1988. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Kapardis, A. (1980) Sentencing practice for sex offenders. In Sex Offenders in the Criminal Justice System (ed. West, D. J.), pp. 69–88. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
McClintock, F. H. (1980) Criminal careers of sexual offenders: recidivism, criminal justice and politics. In Sex Offenders in the Criminal Justice System (ed. West, D. J.), pp. 1–5. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
McDonald, J. M. (1973) Indecent Exposure. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Mein, R. (1959) A survey of mentally defective sexual offenders in Harperbury Hospital. Unpublished report.Google Scholar
milner, K. O. (1949) Delinquent types of mentally defective persons. Journal of Mental Science, 95, 842–859.Google Scholar
Mohr, J. W., Turner, R. E. & Jerry, M. B. (1964) Paedophilia and Exhibitionism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Moore, B. C., Thuline, H. C. & Capes, L. (1968) Mongoloid and non-mongoloid retardates: a behavioural comparison. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 73, 433–436.Google Scholar
Morris, J. V. (1948) Delinquent defectives – a group study. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 52, 345–369.Google ScholarPubMed
Murphy, W. D., Coleman, E. M. & Haynes, M. R. (1983) Treatment and evaluation issues with the mentally retarded offender. In The Sexual Aggressor: Current Perspectives on Treatment (eds Green, J. D. & Stuart, I. R.), pp. 22–41. New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Murrey, G. J., Briggs, D. & Davis, C. (1992) Psychopathic disordered, mentally ill and mentally handicapped sex offenders: a comparative study. Medicine, Science and the Law, 32, 331–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norusis, M. J. (1988) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Personal Computer – Version revision 4.0.1. Advanced Statistics Manual B41–69. Chicago: SPSS.Google Scholar
Radzinowicz, L. (1957) Sexual Offences: a Report of the Cambridge Department of Criminology. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Rooth, F. G. (1971) Indecent exposure and exhibitionism. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 5, 521–533.Google Scholar
Sandport, T. (1982) The Sexual Aspect of Paedophile Relations. Amsterdam: Pan/Spartacus. Quoted in West, D. J. (1987).Google Scholar
Santamour, M. B., & West, B. (1978) The retarded offender and corrections. In Mental Retardation and the Law: A report on current court cases, pp. 66–79. President's Committee on Mental Retardation. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Saunders, E., Awad, G. A. & White, G. (1986) Male adolescent sexual offenders: the offender and the offense. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 542–549.Google Scholar
Schilling, R. F. & Schinke, S. P. (1988) Mentally retarded sex offenders: fact, fiction and treatment. Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality, 7, 33–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellings, L. S. (1939) Types of behaviour manifested by feebleminded sex offenders. Proceedings from the American Action on Mental Deficiency, 44, 178–186.Google Scholar
Tracey, F., Donnelly, H., Morgenbesser, L., et al (1983) Program evaluation: recidivism research involving sex offenders. In The Sexual Aggressor: Current Perspectives on Treatment (eds Greer, J. G. & Stuart, I. R.), pp. 198–213. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Walker, N. & McCabe, S. (1973) Crime and Insanity in England, Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Walmsley, R. & White, K. (1979) Sexual Offences, Consent and Sentencing. Home Office Research tudy No. 54. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
West, D. J., Roy, C. & Nicols, F. L. (1978) Understanding Sexual Attacks. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
West, D. J., Roy, C. & Nicols, F. L. (1987) Sexual Crimes and Confrontations: a Study of Victims and Offenders. Cambridge Studies in Criminology, No. 57. Aldershot: Gower.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.