Denial Predicts Recidivism for Some Sexual Offenders

This study examined whether there were variables that moderated the relationship between denial and recidivism among adult male sexual offenders. The first study (N = 489) found that the relationship with sexual recidivism was moderated by risk (as measured by the Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism) but not by psychopathy (as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised). Contrary to expectations, denial was associated with increased sexual recidivism among the low-risk offenders and with decreased recidivism among the high-risk offenders. Post hoc analyses suggested that the risk item most responsible for the interaction was “relationship to victims”. For incest offenders, denial was associated with increased sexual recidivism, but denial was not associated with increased recidivism for offenders with unrelated victims. These interactions were substantially replicated in two independent samples (N = 490 and N = 73). The results suggest that denial merits further consideration for researchers as well as those involved in applied risk assessment of sexual offenders.