LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Child Molesters: Comparison Groups
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The present study examined the long term recidivism rates of 197 child molesters released from prison between 1958 and 1974. Overall, 42 percent of the total sample was reconvicted for sexual and/or violent crimes, with 10 percent of the total sample being reconvicted between 10 and 31 years after being released. Incest offenders were reconvicted at a slower rate than homosexual pedophiles, with heterosexual pedophiles showing a rate intermediate between these two groups. Other factors associated with increased recidivism were 1) never being married and 2) prior sexual offenses. Although mental health and personality test (e.g., Eysenck, MMPI) scores improved with treatment, neither the pre- nor post-treatment scores were associated with recidivism. The recidivism rate for the treated child molesters was similar to the recidivism rate found for comparison groups of untreated child molesters.
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Participants were 27 child molesters who had committed or attempted a sexually motivated homicide, 189 nonhomicidal child molesters, and 47 nonoffenders (comparison group). All participants were men at least 18 years old, and all were assessed at the Royal Ottawa Hospital Sexual Behaviours Clinic between 1982 and 1992. Homicidal and nonhomicidal child molesters had committed nonincestual sexual offenses against a female and/or male child under 16 years of age, were 18 years of age or older at the time of their offense, and were assessed as part of their adjudication or sentencing process. The comparison group was recruited through an advertisement and paid a $50 honorarium. The men in the comparison group had no criminal record or serious psychiatric or medical history, and all reported that they had never committed a sexual offense.
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Rice et al. (1991), in contrast, found child molesters who have received a behavioral laboratory treatment aimed at reducing age inappropriate sexual arousal reoffended at the same rate as a comparison group who had not received the treatment. All the offenders were extrafamilial child molesters selected from a maximum security psychiatric hospital and were followed for an average of six years. It was unclear what factors contributed to offenders participating in the sexual arousal conditioning, although the group assignment was not random.
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Comparison Groups