Intimacy Deficits, Fear of Intimacy, and Loneliness among Sexual Offenders

Intimacy defi cits and loneliness recently have been theorized as infl uential factors in the etiology and maintenance of sexually offending behaviors, although to date there has been a lack of empirical research conducted to address this proposition. The present study examined intimacy defi cits, fear of intimacy, and loneliness among intrafamilial child molesters, rapists, nonsexually offending inmates, and a community sample of adult males. The child molesters and rapists reported greater overall intimacy defi cits than did the nonsexually offending inmates and community controls, with rapists reporting the greatest intimacy defi cits. Fear of intimacy was found to be a particularly salient characteristic of die child molesters. The child molesters and rapists reported experiencing more overall loneliness and emotional loneliness. It is suggested that intimacy defi cits, fear of intimacy, and loneliness should be addressed in comprehensive theories of sexual offending and incorporated into assessment and treatment approaches. S exual offending against both women and children remains a signifi cant problem in the United States, with recent crime statistics revealing that the incidence of both rape and child molestation continues to rise (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1994). The widespread prevalence of sexual offending has fueled considerable empirical investigation into the etiology and continuance of sexually offendThis article is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Kurt M. Bumby at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, under the supervision of David J. Hansen. Special thanks to William L. Marshall of Queen’s University for his expertise and support in this project. Address all correspondence concerning this article to Kurt M. Bumby, Guhleman Forensic Center, Fulton State Hospital, 600 E. 5th Street, Fulton, MO 65251–1798. 315 Published in Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 24 No. 3, September 1997, pp. 315–331. Copyright © 1997 American Association for Correctional Psychology. Published by Sage Publications. Used by permission. 316 Bumby & Hansen in Criminal Justice and Behavior 24 (1997) Intimacy Defi cits among Sexual Predators 317 ing behaviors. In the early years of the study of sexual offenders, the literature was plagued with theories attempting to emphasize single factors as responsible for deviant sexual behavior (Finkelhor, 1984). Contemporary approaches to the study of sexual offending advocate multifactor models, which suggest that a variety of elements are infl uential in the onset and continuation of sexually aggressive behavior (Finkelhor, 1984; Hall, 1990; Marshall, 1993). Included among the factors commonly believed to be related to sexual offending are deviant sexual arousal, physiological factors, personality and attitude characteristics, victimization histories, and defi cient interpersonal relationships and social functioning. In addition, clinical experience with sexual offenders has led investigators to speculate about the role of intimacy defi cits and loneliness in sexual offending. Indeed, Marshall (1989, 1993, in press) has observed that many sexual offenders lack deep and intimate relationships, are emotionally isolated, and have had numerous superfi cial and unfulfi lling relationships. With these observations in mind, Marshall and his colleagues have hypothesized that intimacy defi cits and loneliness may be critical factors in a more general theory of sexual offending (Marshall, 1989, 1993, in press; Ward, Hudson, Marshall, & Siegert, 1995). Specifi cally, it has been suggested that poor-quality attachments that develop in childhood and persist into adulthood may lead to signifi cant intimacy defi cits and loneliness, which eventually may result in attempts to ameliorate the feelings of loneliness through inappropriate sexual contact with inappropriate partners. Although a logical framework has been established that emphasizes intimacy defi cits and loneliness as signifi cant in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending, very little empirical research has been conducted to specifi cally address these factors. Of the two empirical examinations addressing these elements thus far, both Garlick (1989) and Seidman, Marshall, Hudson, and Robertson (1994) have found support for an association among intimacy defi cits, loneliness, and sexual offending. Garlick matched incarcerated child molesters and rapists with an incarcerated nonsexually offending inmate sample, who then completed the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980) and Tesch’s (1985) Psychosocial Intimacy Questionnaire. The child molesters and rapists reported signifi cantly lower levels of intimacy and greater amounts of loneliness than the nonsexual offenders, suggesting that intimacy defi cits and loneliness perhaps were not simply a function of criminal behavior. Seidman et al. (1994) conducted two studies comparing intimacy and loneliness among samples of incarcerated and nonincarcerated sexual offenders, wife batterers, violent nonsexual offenders, nonviolent nonsexual offenders, and community males. The measures used included the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (Miller & Lefcourt, 1982), the Waring Intimacy Scale (Waring & Reddon, 1983), and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1980). Similar to the fi ndings of Garlick (1989), the authors found that the sexual offenders suffered from greater intimacy defi cits and loneliness than nonsexually offending inmates or community controls. Furthermore, the lack of intimacy was found to be a better predictor of indexes of violence than was the experience of loneliness. These studies are important and signifi cant initial contributions, although there are recognized limitations to both investigations. First, the investigators assessed sexual offenders’ current levels of loneliness and intimacy, which clearly may differ from the degree of loneliness and intimacy experienced during their cycles of sexual offending. Second, levels of intimacy were examined only in terms of the offenders’ relationship with a spouse or signifi cant other, thereby limiting generalizability to only one distinct relationship type. Third, no assessments of factors related to intimacy defi cits, such as fear of intimacy in relationships, were included. Finally, although emotional loneliness has been suggested as the more relevant form of loneliness with respect to precipitating sexual aggression, the researchers failed to differentiate between emotional and social loneliness in their analyses. Therefore, the present study sought to address these limitations while investigating the proposition that intimacy defi cits and loneliness are infl uential in sexually offending behaviors.