Physicians who commit sexual offences: Are they different from other sex offenders?

Objective: To determine if physician sex offenders differ significantly fro m other sex offenders by using a control group and assessing both groups wi th reliable and valid instruments. Method: Nineteen male physician sex offenders were compared with 19 male se x offender control subjects, matched on offence type, age, education, and m arital status. Both groups were compared with a general sample of sex offen ders (n = 2125). The 3 groups were compared on sexual history and preferenc e, substance abuse, mental illness, personality, history of crime and viole nce, neuropsychological impairment, and endocrine abnormalities. Results: Physicians in this study were highly educated and older,forming a statistically significant subgroup of sex offenders. The majority of physic ian sex offenders suffered from a sexual disorder (68.4%), as did the other 2 groups. Physicians showed more neuropsychological impairment and endocri ne abnormalities and less antisocial behaviour than did the general sample of sex offenders but did not differ from the matched control group. Physici an offenders who sexually assaulted their patients did not differ from thos e who had nonpatient victims. Conclusions: Despite differences in age, education, and occupation between physician sex offenders and sex offenders in general, the same assessment p rocedures can be recommended for examining both groups. Although the sample size is small, results suggest that physicians who commit sexual offences should Be scrutinized by phallometric assessment of sexual deviance and esp ecially for neurological and endocrine abnormalities.