An evaluation of self-report measures of cognitive distortions and empathyamong Australian sex offenders

The modification of deviant cognitions and the enhancement of victim empath y are central components in many treatment programs for sex offenders. Ther e appear to be three broad problems with self-report measures of these fact ors: variations in the psychometric evaluation of measures; the transparenc y of items and thus the likely influence of social desirability; and the di fficulty of determining which measures are specific to particular types of sex offenders. The aim of this study, was to investigate these three issues among child molesters (CMs), and men convicted of sex offences against adu lts (ASOs). Data were collected from 36 CMs and 31 ASOs and from two compar ison groups (33 men convicted of nonsexual offences and 40 nonoffenders fro m the community,), to assess the reliability (internal and test-retest) and validity, (discriminant, construct, and face) of measures, the influence o f sexual social desirability on responding and the specificity of measures to both sex offender groups. Collectively, the results raise issues related to the assessment of sex offenders that require fia-ther investigation. Th ey also have theoretical implications about the relationship between cognit ive and emotive processes among sex offenders.