Differences in Risk Scores among Intrafamilial and Extrafamilial Sexual Offenders

IJEMHHR • Vol. 18, No. 2 • 2016 742 INTRODUCTION Adult sexual perpetration against children and child abuse is a critical public concern and social problem (Bonnar-Kidd, 2010; Calkins, et al., 2014; Whitaker, Lutzker & Shelley, 2005). Child Protective Services (CPS) substantiated approximately 62,936 child sexual abuse cases in 2012 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Service [USDHHS], 2012) with the majority of the perpetrators against the children being adult offenders (82.2%). Community surveys have demonstrated that five to 20 percent of men admit to at least one act of sexual aggression (Koss, 1987; Lisak & Miller, 2002). On a given day, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), there are approximately 265,000 sexual offenders supervised by corrections agencies, and more than 747,000 registered sex offenders in the United States. According to contemporary theories, there are various factors that can be related to the development of sexual offending (Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003; Ward & Siegert, 2002). Identification of the characteristics of those who sexually offend against children provides information that may help treatment providers understand the reasoning behind this disturbing behavior (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005).