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Journal of Sexual Aggression

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Editorial
Simon Hackett a
a
Durham University,

Online Publication Date: 01 November 2007

To cite this Article: Hackett, Simon (2007) 'Editorial', Journal of Sexual Aggression,
13:3, 185 - 186
To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/13552600701822415
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13552600701822415

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 Journal of Sexual Aggression
(November 2007), Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 185
186
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Editorial
This issue of the Journal of Sexual Aggression
opens with a paper by Tony Ward based on
his keynote address to the NOTA conference
held in Edinburgh in September 2007. In this
stimulating and important conceptual piece,
Tony argues strongly in favour of an ap-
proach to sex offender treatment which is
informed by a human rights perspective. He
explores the meaning of human rights and
their applicability to work with sex offenders.
He suggests that attention to the theory of
human rights allows practitioners to negoti-
ate a range of current practice dilemmas,
including: balancing risk management with
strengths-based models; individualized as
against manualized approaches; process ver-
sus technical focus; and, balancing commu-
nity protection with offender wellbeing.
Next, Shelley Price and Karl Hanson
report their use of Stroop techniques with a
group of 60 offenders. Replicating an existing
study by Smith and Waterman (2004), the
authors aimed to explore whether groups,
including sex offenders and non-sexual of-
fenders, could be differentiated in terms of
their sexual cognitive schema using Stroop
tasks. These techniques were also compared
to the use of self-report sexual attitudes
questionnaires. They found that there were
differences between groups based on the use
of Stroop techniques, though effect sizes
were small. However, the Stroop measures
did better than the attitudinal self-report
measures. Although the authors underline
that their results are preliminary at this stage,
they suggest that cognitive measures, such as
those employed in this study based on the
Stroop effect, hold promise.
In the third paper, Louise Almond and
David Canter use a Smallest Space Analysis
ISSN 1355-2600 print/1742-6545 online # 2007 National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers
DOI: 10.1080/13552600701822415
procedure to investigate behavioural deficits
in young people presenting with harmful
sexual behaviours. This study builds on the
authors’ own previous work reported in this
journal (Almond, Canter & Salfati, 2006)
which developed a multivariate model of
perpetrator characteristics comprising the
three themes of Abuse, Delinquency and
Impairment. In the present and related study,
the authors found that three distinct beha-
vioural themes emerged from their analysis of
case file data on 300 young people. Each of
these behavioural themes is outlined and
implications for practice are explored.
Following this, Theresa Kelly and
Chris Erickson report the findings of their
investigation into the relationship between
gender role identity, sexual self-esteem and
sexual coercion in a sample of undergraduate
students. The study will be interesting to the
readership of the Journal as it casts some light
on the relationship between forms of gender
role identity and sexual aggression in a group
of non-offenders. For example, in contrast to
some of the existing literature, the authors
here report only weak relationships between
sexual coercion and masculinity. Also incon-
sistent with other studies which have found a
negative association between sexual self-
esteem and sexual coercion, the authors of
the current study found a weak, non-signifi-
cant relationship between these two factors.
In the practice section of the Journal,
two papers are offered. Linda Maule relates
her experience as a clinical supervisor of staff.
The focus here is on the important, but often
neglected, issue of personal and interpersonal
boundaries in work with sex offenders. The
author writes in a personal and engaging
way about the need for these issues to be
 186 Editorial
addressed more clearly in our field. She
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discusses why different forms of boundary
violation occur in sex offender work and she
suggests ways in which individuals and teams
can guard against such breaches. As sug-
gested in her title, the author wants to open a
debate about this important topic and I shall
look forward to hearing from other readers
about their thoughts and experiences regard-
ing this theme.
In the final paper in this issue, Bill West
describes the use of the Good Way model in
the treatment of adolescents and adults with
intellectual difficulties with sexually abusive
behaviour. He argues that treatment for
individuals with learning disabilities needs
to be broadened beyond a predominant focus
on risk reduction to include strength-based
approaches and that the Good Way model
can provide a helpful framework through
which adaptive explicit theories can be devel-
oped with this group. Moreover, he suggests
ways in which the model can assist in the
construction and promotion of self-narratives
of desistance and rehabilitation in practice.
Finally, the issue closes as ever with a
Book Reviews Editorial provided by Louise
Dixon, followed by a series of book reviews
relevant to the aims and scope of the Journal.
Simon Hackett
Durham University
References
Smith, P. & Waterman, M. (2004). Processing bias for
sexual material: The emotional Stroop and sexual
offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and
Treatment, 13, 15
25.
Almond, L., Canter, D. & Salfati, G. (2006). Youths who
sexually harm: A multivariate model of perpetrator
characteristics. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 12, 1
18.