Psychophysiological assessment of sex offenders in a security hospital.

A study on the sexual orientation and responsiveness of sexual offenders in a maximum security hospital who had been referred to the Psychology Department for sexual assessment is described. Correlations between "felt sexual arousal" ratings and penis diameter increase were calculated to assess validity, but a high proportion of detained patients gave results which could be interpreted as indicating defensiveness or faking. Groups of sexual offenders (against women, girls, boys, and men), nonsexual attackers of women, and typical heterosexuals were compared on their profiles of response to films showing consenting adult heterosexual, adult homosexual, and boy homosexual activity, girl abduction, and girl rape. Groups did not differ on the consenting heterosexual activity film, but typical heterosexuals and nonsexual attackers of women showed significantly less response to the film of girl abduction (p less than 0.001) and rape (p less than 0.001) than did groups of sex offenders generally.