Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose?
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and the production, use, and distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) are key threats to children’s mental health. From the perspective of indicated prevention, it can be assumed that some persons with a sexual interest in children commit such unreported crimes. Ac...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1277225/full |
| _version_ | 1797503016503345152 |
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| author | Fritjof von Franqué Ralf Bergner-Koether Ralf Bergner-Koether Stefanie Schmidt Jan S. Pellowski Jan H. Peters Göran Hajak Peer Briken |
| author_facet | Fritjof von Franqué Ralf Bergner-Koether Ralf Bergner-Koether Stefanie Schmidt Jan S. Pellowski Jan H. Peters Göran Hajak Peer Briken |
| author_sort | Fritjof von Franqué |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and the production, use, and distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) are key threats to children’s mental health. From the perspective of indicated prevention, it can be assumed that some persons with a sexual interest in children commit such unreported crimes. Accordingly, the German Network kein Täter werden (meaning do not offend) has implemented a confidential treatment service for persons with a sexual interest in minors who voluntarily seek therapy, might or might not have offended but have not yet been detected or have fulfilled all legal requirements (here referred to as non-forensic individuals). However, this offer has been questioned for investing resources in a group which critics consider as low risk. The following study addresses the question of recidivism risks for CSA or viewing CSAM among non-forensic individuals. We found significantly higher rates of CSA/CSAM in our participants’ history compared to a German study on a representative sample of males. Regarding CSAM, the recidivism rate of 39% was found to be 11 times higher than the expected recidivism rate based on previous publications. Regarding CSA, the recidivism rate of 14% was not significantly different from the expected rate reported for subjects with a conviction for a sexual contact offense. Among various risk instruments, only the CPORT with CASIC rating was able to predict CSA (AUC = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.82) and CSAM (AUC = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.53, 0.73) among individuals with a history of CSAM, but with poor discrimination. We conclude that a large proportion of our sample poses a substantial risk and therefore treatment resources are well invested. However, further studies are needed to improve risk assessment among non-forensic clients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:44:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f50cc07839504851ad8090fe049e1681 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:44:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-f50cc07839504851ad8090fe049e16812023-11-23T09:11:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402023-11-011410.3389/fpsyt.2023.12772251277225Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose?Fritjof von Franqué0Ralf Bergner-Koether1Ralf Bergner-Koether2Stefanie Schmidt3Jan S. Pellowski4Jan H. Peters5Göran Hajak6Peer Briken7Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyDepartment for Sexual Medicine, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, Bamberg, GermanyDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, GermanyInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, GermanyDepartment for Sexual Medicine, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, Bamberg, GermanyInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyChild Sexual Abuse (CSA) and the production, use, and distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) are key threats to children’s mental health. From the perspective of indicated prevention, it can be assumed that some persons with a sexual interest in children commit such unreported crimes. Accordingly, the German Network kein Täter werden (meaning do not offend) has implemented a confidential treatment service for persons with a sexual interest in minors who voluntarily seek therapy, might or might not have offended but have not yet been detected or have fulfilled all legal requirements (here referred to as non-forensic individuals). However, this offer has been questioned for investing resources in a group which critics consider as low risk. The following study addresses the question of recidivism risks for CSA or viewing CSAM among non-forensic individuals. We found significantly higher rates of CSA/CSAM in our participants’ history compared to a German study on a representative sample of males. Regarding CSAM, the recidivism rate of 39% was found to be 11 times higher than the expected recidivism rate based on previous publications. Regarding CSA, the recidivism rate of 14% was not significantly different from the expected rate reported for subjects with a conviction for a sexual contact offense. Among various risk instruments, only the CPORT with CASIC rating was able to predict CSA (AUC = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.82) and CSAM (AUC = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.53, 0.73) among individuals with a history of CSAM, but with poor discrimination. We conclude that a large proportion of our sample poses a substantial risk and therefore treatment resources are well invested. However, further studies are needed to improve risk assessment among non-forensic clients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1277225/fullchild sexual abusechild pornographyDunkelfelddo not offendnot become an offenderkein täter werden |
| spellingShingle | Fritjof von Franqué Ralf Bergner-Koether Ralf Bergner-Koether Stefanie Schmidt Jan S. Pellowski Jan H. Peters Göran Hajak Peer Briken Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? Frontiers in Psychiatry child sexual abuse child pornography Dunkelfeld do not offend not become an offender kein täter werden |
| title | Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? |
| title_full | Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? |
| title_fullStr | Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? |
| title_short | Individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors: what risk do they pose? |
| title_sort | individuals under voluntary treatment with sexual interest in minors what risk do they pose |
| topic | child sexual abuse child pornography Dunkelfeld do not offend not become an offender kein täter werden |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1277225/full |
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