THE ASSESSMENT OF RAPISTS

The assessment of sexual aggression presents many difficulties for cli nicians. The tendency of offenders to minimise or deny their offending , and their frequent distrust of mental health professionals, require high levels of skill to circumvent. In addition, the multifactorial na ture of rape means that assessment needs to cover a broad range of con tent areas and utilise a number of different methods. In this paper we suggest that a comprehensive assessment should inquire into the devel opmental history of rapists, social competency, attitudes and beliefs about women and sexual crimes, sexual knowledge, sexual preferences an d disorders, empathy, offence variables, psychiatric history, and subs tance abuse. The clinical interview remains the primary method of info rmation acquisition, and needs to be tailored to match the particular interpersonal style of rapists. The use of psychometric and physiologi cal measures are also valuable sources of clinical data.