Sexual Offending

Abstract

Summary

British law is inconsistent in what behaviours it considers to be criminal and although most of the clients whom forensic services assess have broken one or other sexual laws, there is both a great variation in the characteristics of these offenders and a great undisclosed amount of offending which never comes to the attention of professional services. Forensic psychiatrists are in the main concerned with the treatment of two relatively distinct groups: those individuals in the Special Hospitals and those being treated in the community. The former group are characterized by the sadistic traits of their sexual fantasy life and by a psychiatric and Mental Health Act diagnosis of psychopathic disorder. How abnormal their sexual sadistic fantasies are is not entirely certain, as such types of fantasy can be found in non-criminal populations and other factors may be at work to lead to criminal activity, rather than the sole presence of a sadistic or violent fantasy in itself. Various treatment approaches for both this group and those offenders on probation orders in the community are discussed. Following the publication of the reports of a number of potentially influential Government Committees and advisory bodies, some potential changes to the sexual offences laws are proposed.