SALIENT VICTIM SUFFERING AND THE SEXUAL-RESPONSES OF CHILD MOLESTERS

In phallometric testing, audiovisual stimuli in which the audio compon ent depicted a child victim's suffering described from the child's poi nt of view were compared with similar scenarios described from the adu lt male offender's point of view and to portrayals of consenting adult heterosexual activity. Fifteen male participants who had sexually ass aulted girls and 15 nonoffenders were also administered questionnaire measures of empathy and opinions regarding sex with children. Consiste nt with predictions, maximal discrimination between groups was obtaine d using deviance indices based on stimuli that emphasized victim traum a. Also consistent with predictions, the questionnaire measures were r elated to sexual deviance. Recommendations are made regarding stimuli for phallometric testing. The results point to the relevance of changi ng deviant preferences and enhancing empathy for the victim in the tre atment of child molesters.