Reassessing the Sex Offender "Typology": Can Sex Offenders be Accurately Categorized?

• In Event: Institutional Offending and Victimization

Abstract

To better understand distinctions between types of sex offenders, researchers have created typologies that utilize offenders’ characteristics and/or victim-choice information to outline a framework for analysis. Understanding the interpersonal and situational characteristics that are the basis of offending behavior will lead to a greater likelihood of controlling such behavior in the future. However, many of these typology systems are based upon single, small or forensic samples, some of which are outdated. This paper will present the aggregate "picture" of sex offenders based on several public data sets, including one from the Catholic Church and one from the Boy Scouts of America, as well as other non-institutional data sets.

Authors

• Karen J. Terry, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Margaret Leland Smith, John Jay College of Criminal Justice