Identifying Critical Dimensions for Discriminating Among Rapists

Considerable evidence has amassed in studies of both nonoffender and offender samples that demonstrates both that sexual aggression is determined by a multiplicity of variables and that convicted sexual offenders are markedly heterogeneous ( Knight, Rosenberg, & Schneider, 1985 ; Malamuth, 1986 ). Attempts both to identify sexually coercive men in normal samples and to assess etiology, concurrent adaptation, treatment efficacy, and recidivism for convicted sexually aggressive offenders have also suggested that the critical determining components of sexual aggression interact in complex ways. The purpose of this article is to survey both the offender and nonoffender sexual aggression research for evidence about which dimensions should be included in multivariate models that attempt to discriminate rapists from nonrapists, to identify subgroups among rapists, or to enhance the efficiency of dispositional decisions about these offenders.