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Evaluations of Sexual Offenders: How Stereotypical Bias may Affect Assessments of Risk and Treatment Need

Weber Malmberg, Carole LU (2010) PPTN51 20101
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Traditional sex role attitudes and gender bias may be affecting not only the identification of female sexual offenders but also the development of gender specific risk assessment tools and treatment interventions. This papers aim is to explore whether stereotypical attitudes exist among trained professionals in Sweden, or if a specialized training is a protective factor concerning discriminative tendencies if existing in society. Treatment providers from the Swedish Correctional Services were asked to asses risk level and treatment need on a vignette character, either male or female, described as having committed a sexual offence against a minor. The test subjects were compared with two control groups; college students and social workers.... (More)
Traditional sex role attitudes and gender bias may be affecting not only the identification of female sexual offenders but also the development of gender specific risk assessment tools and treatment interventions. This papers aim is to explore whether stereotypical attitudes exist among trained professionals in Sweden, or if a specialized training is a protective factor concerning discriminative tendencies if existing in society. Treatment providers from the Swedish Correctional Services were asked to asses risk level and treatment need on a vignette character, either male or female, described as having committed a sexual offence against a minor. The test subjects were compared with two control groups; college students and social workers. A total of 161 participants completed the assignment.
Results showed that all three groups tended to over rate the risk of the offender and only minor non significant differences between the test group and the control groups were found. The lack of significant differences could be explained by small power but also raises the question about alternative stereotypical beliefs. The study highlights scarcity of knowledge in the field of female sex offending and more research is warranted to reduce sexual harm. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Weber Malmberg, Carole LU
supervisor
organization
course
PPTN51 20101
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
tereotypical beliefs, treatment interventions, sex offenders, risk assessment
language
English
id
1627755
date added to LUP
2010-08-30 11:49:22
date last changed
2010-08-30 11:49:22
@misc{1627755,
  abstract     = {{Traditional sex role attitudes and gender bias may be affecting not only the identification of female sexual offenders but also the development of gender specific risk assessment tools and treatment interventions. This papers aim is to explore whether stereotypical attitudes exist among trained professionals in Sweden, or if a specialized training is a protective factor concerning discriminative tendencies if existing in society. Treatment providers from the Swedish Correctional Services were asked to asses risk level and treatment need on a vignette character, either male or female, described as having committed a sexual offence against a minor. The test subjects were compared with two control groups; college students and social workers. A total of 161 participants completed the assignment.
Results showed that all three groups tended to over rate the risk of the offender and only minor non significant differences between the test group and the control groups were found. The lack of significant differences could be explained by small power but also raises the question about alternative stereotypical beliefs. The study highlights scarcity of knowledge in the field of female sex offending and more research is warranted to reduce sexual harm.}},
  author       = {{Weber Malmberg, Carole}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Evaluations of Sexual Offenders: How Stereotypical Bias may Affect Assessments of Risk and Treatment Need}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}