| Little research exists that investigates the possible influences of dysfunctinal attachment in the development of repeat sexual offenders. Also, past sexual offender research focuses on the offender as an antisocial personality driven by power and control, while current research postulates that certain sexual offenders could be motivated by feelings of loneliness and isolation, possibly a type of borderline personality. The hypotheses tested stated that in a sample of repeat sexual offenders, a cohesive set of indicators of dysfunctional attachment would be indentified and would be related to both antisocial/ impulsive and detached outcome behaviors. Using a retrospective dataset comprising self-report and archival data from a sample of repeat sexual offenders, scales were created that were theoretically descriptive of dysfunctional attachment and antisocial/impulsive and detached behaviors. A Factor Analytic Simultaneous Equation Model was constructed to test the hypothesized model. Using a combination of confirmatory and exploratory analyses, a model was constructed that was statistically sound and had a good fit with the data. These results support the presence of dysfunctional attachment and specific related outcome behaviors in certain repeat sexual offenders. These results hold implications for apprehension, investigation, and treatment efforts. |
Updated 05/20/2006