Exploring Offence Paralleling Behaviours in Incarcerated Offenders

Abstract

This paper aims to develop an understanding of what constitutes Offence Paralleling Behaviour in a custodial setting, how it relates to current levels of sexual interest and how it may predict risk of future offending. Two groups of men, one group convicted of sexual offences and one not, all located in a prison-based therapeutic community, volunteered to participate in research to help validate a newly developed psychometric measure of current sexual interest. Potential Offence Paralleling Behaviours (OPBs) were considered, with the intention of being able to assess seriousness of such behaviours based on empirically developed risk factors (Hart et al., 2003; Hanson & Harris, 2000, 2001; Mann, Hanson & Thornton, 2010). Examples of such were sought from file information, self-report and staff observations and the Sexual Offence Paralleling Behaviour Checklist (SOPBC) developed. It was predicted that that those who had exhibited OPB would score higher on the newly-developed Current Sexual Interest Measure (CSIM; Akerman, Bishopp & Beech, submitted). Five cases in each group were explored in more detail in order to examine the relationship between self-reported and exhibited behaviour. In relation to these case studies, preliminary findings indicated that the men are self-reporting their sexual interests on the CSIM in a way that is largely consistent with their observed OPB behaviour and as assessed on the SOPBC. It is suggested that it is possible to identify the behaviours highlighted as predictive of risk in the custodial setting, and so more systematic case management plans can be developed.