Cognitive Approaches to the Assessment of Sexual Interest in Sexual Offenders (eBook)

David Thornton is the treatment director for Wisconsin's program for sexually violent persons, and an Adjunct Professor in the department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is co-author of STATIC-99, the most widely used risk assessment instrument for sexual offenders in the world, and also of Risk Matrix 2000, the commonly used risk assessment instrument in the United Kingdom. He currently serves on the editorial board of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, and is a member of the Executive Board of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. D. Richard Laws is co-director of the Pacific Psychological Assessment Corporation in Victoria, BC, Canada. He is an adjunct faculty member at Simon Fraser University and the University of Birmingham, UK. Dr. Laws is known in the research field of sexual deviance primarily for his development of assessment procedures. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Journal of Sexual Aggression, Journal of Interpersonal Violence and Legal and Criminological Psychology.

About the Editors.

List of Contributors.

Series Editors' Preface.

Introduction (David Thornton and D. Richard Laws).

1 Penile Plethysmography: Strengths, Limitations, Innovations
(D. Richard Laws).

2 The Abel Assessment for Sexual Interests - 2: A Critical
Review (Susan J. Sachsenmaier and Carmen L.Z. Gress).

3 Affinity: The Development of a Self-Report Assessment of
Paedophile Sexual Interest Incorporating a Viewing Time Validity
Measure (David V. Glasgow).

4 Cognitive Modelling of Sexual Arousal and Interest: Choice
Reaction Time Measures (Carmen L.Z. Gress and D. Richard
Laws).

5 The Implicit Association Test as a Measure of Sexual Interest
(Nicola S. Gray and Robert J. Snowden).

6 Measuring Child Molesters' Implicit Cognitions about
Self and Children (Kevin L. Nunes).

7 The Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Test of Sexual Interest
in Child Molesters (Vanja E. Flak, Anthony R. Beech and Glyn W.
Humphreys).

8 Assessing Sexual Interest with the Emotional Stroop Test
(Paul Smith).

9 Comparing Two Implicit Cognitive Measures of Sexual Interest:
A Pictorial Modified Stroop Task and the Implicit Association Test
(Caoilte ´O Ciardha and Michael Gormley).

10 The Startle Probe Reflex: An Alternative Approach to the
Measurement of Sexual Interest (Jeffrey E. Hecker, Matthew W.
King and R. Jamie Scoular).

11 Postscript: Steps Towards Effective Assessment of Sexual
Interest (David Thornton and D. Richard Laws).

Index.

"Thoroton and Laws' edited volume Cognitive Approaches to the Assessment of Sexual interest in Sexual Offendersis a massively useful brief primer on the variety of methods from experimental cognitive psychology that have been examined in relation to this question." (Psychology & Sexuality, January 2010)

This book provides a comprehensive account of the range of
approaches and techniques with which male (and in some cases
female) sexual arousal patterns can be assessed. A fundamental read
for anyone involved in researching, assessing, or treating sex
offenders.

--Don Grubin, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry,
Newcastle University

Thornton and Laws' book provides up-to-date and comprehensive
information on each technology. Written by authoritative sources,
this book is likely to move this field of enquiry forward
considerably.

-- Dr Ruth Mann, Interventions & Substance Misuse
Group, National Offender Management Service, England and
Wales

This book gives an outstanding overview of current trends in sex
offender assessment. Experts in the field deliver insights into
novel latency-based testing procedures. The book features chapters
on viewing time and choice-reaction time tasks, on modified
versions of the Stroop test, on the attentional blink and the
startle probe as well as on the implicit association test. Most of
these tests originated in cognitive psychological research and are
now being fruitfully applied to identify disorders of sexual
preference. The exposition is clear and succinct. The book serves
as an introduction to and an overview of an exciting new area of
research. Within the field of sex offender treatment and
assessment, this book will be a highly useful resource for
researchers and practitioners alike.

-- Dr Andreas Mokros, Department of Forensic
Psychiatry, University of Regensburg