Exploring sexual knowledge and risk in the assessment and treatment of adolescent males with intellectual developmental disorders who display harmful sexual behaviour
Richards, Samantha (2018) Exploring sexual knowledge and risk in the assessment and treatment of adolescent males with intellectual developmental disorders who display harmful sexual behaviour. DForenPsy thesis, University of Nottingham.
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The aim of the current thesis was to explore sexual knowledge and risk in the assessment and treatment of adolescent males with intellectual developmental disorders (IDD), who display harmful sexual behaviour (HSB). A variety of methods were used in this undertaking, including a systematic review, a single case study, a critique of a psychometric measure and two empirical studies. The findings of the systematic review indicated that although the identified/assessed risk variables related to recidivism were found to be similar in cases and controls, some were found to be more prevalent for sexual offenders with IDD. However, it was difficult to draw any firm conclusions due to inconsistencies in findings and limitations in the methodological quality of included studies.
The case study detailed the assessment and treatment of an adolescent male with limited cognitive ability and a history of harmful sexual behaviour. The assessment highlighted the utility of the integrated theories of sexual offending, and how his adverse early life experiences and developmental trauma disorder may have negatively impacted on his attachments, social and self-regulation skills, low-self-esteem and the development of his harmful sexual behaviour. The post-intervention assessment highlighted the client had made some positive shifts within his identified treatment targets, although there was still room for improvement with regards to his level of socio-sexual knowledge, his ability to self-regulate and his tendency to engage in aggressive and rule-breaking behaviours.
In the critique of the Knowledge Test and Quick Quiz components of the Assessment of Sexual Knowledge –ASK (Butler, Leighton & Galea, 2003) the Knowledge Test measure demonstrated some good psychometric properties and had undergone extensive research and robust testing with individuals with IDD during its development. However, weaknesses of the measure considered were its lack of normative data, the ambiguous wording of some items, and limited empirical research regarding the tool's effectiveness in measuring sexual knowledge across different populations of individuals with IDD. The empirical research consisted of two studies. In the first study a questionnaire adapted from the Knowledge Test of the Assessment of Sexual Knowledge – ASK, was tested for its ability to accurately measure sexual knowledge in adolescent males with and without IDD and their counterparts who display harmful sexual behaviour. Tests examining both the reliability and validity of the adapted measure suggested its psychometric properties were promising. The second study sought to explore whether there were differences in sexual knowledge in adolescents with and without IDD and their counterparts who display harmful sexual behaviour (HSB). Significant differences were observed between groups. In the HSB groups, adolescents with IDD experienced significantly higher rates of sexual victimisation than No IDD adolescents. For those with IDD the HSB group were 12 times more likely to view sexually explicit material than the Non HSB group. The findings suggested that a lack of sexual knowledge might not be a contributory factor in why some young people with IDD go on to display harmful sexual behaviour.
Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (DForenPsy)
Browne, Kevin
Edwards, Rachel
Harmful sexual behavior; Sexual knowledge; Assessment and treatment; Sexual Offending; Risk assessment, Risk factors; Intellectual development disorder; Adolescent males
W Medicine and related subjects (NLM Classification) > WM Psychiatry
UK Campuses > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine
Richards, Samantha