Cognitive Approaches to the Assessment of Sexual Interest in Sexual Offenders

by Thornton, David; Laws, D. Richard

• ISBN13: 9780470057841
• ISBN10: 047005784X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-12
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

New for the Wiley Series in Forensic Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Approaches to the Treatment of Sexual Offenders describes and evaluates the current methods of measuring sexual interest in sex offenders - namely penile plethysmography, the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest, Affinity 2.1, the Implicit Association Test, the Stroop test and the polygraph. The book also discusses how established cognitive assessment methods such as the attentional blink and the startle probe reflex can be adapted for use with sex offenders. It therefore brings together in one volume all the latest research and practice in this area, along with critical commentary on the effectiveness of each method.

Author Biography

David Thornton is Treatment Director at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Centre in Wisconsin, USA, which specializes in the rehabilitation of dangerous sex offenders. He developed the Thornton Program, which places emphasis on the patient implementing what has been learnt in therapy.

D. Richard Laws is the Director of the Pacific Psychological Assessment Corporation in Victoria, Canada, an organization that specializes in assessment and treatment tools for clinicians to use when treating sex offenders.

Table of Contents

About the Editors	p. vii
List of Contributors	p. ix
Series Editors' Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Penile Plethysmography: Strengths, Limitations, Innovations	p. 7
The Abel Assessment for Sexual Interests - 2: A Critical Review	p. 31
Affinity: The Development of a Self-Report Assessment of Paedophile Sexual Interest Incorporating a Viewing Tune Validity Measure	p. 59
Cognitive Modelling of Sexual Arousal and Interest: Choice Reaction Time Measures	p. 85
The Implicit Association Test as a Measure of Sexual Interest	p. 101
Measuring Child Molesters' Implicit Cognitions about Self and Children	p. 125
The Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Test of Sexual Interest in Child Molesters	p. 145
Assessing Sexual Interest with the Emotional Stroop Test	p. 159
Comparing Two Implicit Cognitive Measures of Sexual Interest: A Pictorial Modified Stroop Task and the Implicit Association Test	p. 177
The Startle Probe Reflex: An Alternative Approach to the Measurement of Sexual Interest	p. 203
Postscript: Steps Towards Effective Assessment of Sexual Interest	p. 225
Index	p. 229
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