Viewing Child Pornography: Prevalence & Correlates in a Representative Community Sample of Young Swedish Men

Most research on child pornography use has been based on selected clinical or criminal justice samples; risk factors for child pornography use in the general population remain largely unexplored. 

In this study, we examined prevalence, risk factors, and correlates of viewing depictions of adult-child sex in a population-representative sample of 1,978 young Swedish men (17-20 years, Mdn = 18 years, overall response rate, 77 %). 

In an anonymous, school-based survey, participants self-reported sexual coercion experiences, attitudes and beliefs about sex, perceived peer attitudes, and sexual interests and behaviors; including pornography use, sexual interest in children, and sexually coercive behavior. A total of 84 (4.2 %) young men reported they had ever viewed child pornography. 

Most theory-based variables were moderately and significantly associated with child pornography viewing and were consistent with models of sexual offending implicating both antisociality and sexual deviance. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, 7 of 15 tested factors independently predicted child pornography viewing and explained 42 % of the variance: ever had sex with a male, likely to have sex with a child aged 12-14, likely to have sex with a child 12 or less, perception of children as seductive, having friends who have watched child pornography, frequent pornography use, and ever viewed violent pornography. 

From these, a 6-item Child Pornography Correlates Scale was constructed and then cross-validated in a similar but independent Norwegian sample.

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By: Seto MC1, Hermann CA, Kjellgren C, Priebe G, Svedin CG, Långström N.

• 1Integrated Forensic Program, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, 1804 Highway 2 East, Brockville, ON, K7V 5W7, Canada, michael.seto@theroyal.ca.  

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Psychopathy Checklist–Revised Use and Reporting Practices in Sexually Violent Predator Evaluations

We surveyed evaluators who conduct sexually violent predator evaluations (N = 95) regarding the frequency with which they use the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R), their rationale for use, and scoring practices. 

Findings suggest that evaluators use the PCL-R in sexually violent predator cases because of its perceived versatility, providing information about both mental disorder and risk. Several findings suggested gaps between research and routine practice. For example, relatively few evaluators reported providing the factor and facet scores that may be the strongest predictors of future offending, and many assessed the combination of PCL-R scores and sexual deviance using deviance measures (e.g., paraphilia diagnoses) that have not been examined in available studies. 

There was evidence of adversarial allegiance in PCL-R score interpretation, as well as a “bias blind spot” in PCL-R and other risk measure (Static-99R) scoring; evaluators tended to acknowledge the possibility of bias in other evaluators but not in themselves. 

Findings suggest the need for evaluators to carefully consider the extent to which their practices are consistent with emerging research and to be attuned to the possibility that working in adversarial settings may influence their scoring and interpretation practices.

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By:

Marcus T. Boccaccini1

Caroline S. Chevalier1

Daniel C. Murrie2

Jorge G. Varela1

¹Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA

²Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

  

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