Assessing Sexual Deviance: A Comparison of Physiological, Historical, and Self-Report Measures

A variety of instruments and techniques are available for assessing sexually deviant interests and arousal among those who have committed sexual offenses. These measures include those that rely on objective or physiological data, self-reported information from the offender, and historical behavior. In this study, several assessment methods from each category were examined and compared with one another to determine their similarity and their usefulness in identifying sexual interest and arousal patterns in known sexual offenders. Comparisons between these instruments and their relation to known behavior are described, as well as effective combinations of assessment tools that may be helpful in better categorizing interest and arousal patterns across different types of sex offenses.