Citation

Kalichman SC, Henderson MC. Crim. Justice Behav. 1991; 18(4): 379-396.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0093854891018004001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Sexual offenders against children are known to be a heterogeneous population with respect to psychological and behavioral characteristics. To subdivide child molesters into homogeneous subgroups, Duthie and McIvor cluster-analyzed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of nonincarcerated child molesters. They identified eight subgroups of offenders which varied in psychopathology and demographic characteristics. Because their 1990 study was an initial step toward the development of a classification system, cross-validation was needed to support Duthie and McIvor's conclusions. In the present study, the same clustering procedure was employed to analyze the MMPIs of 113 child molesters similar to Duthie and McIvor's sample in demography and circumstances of evaluation. Six of the eight clusters reported by Duthie and McIvor were cross-validated. In addition, subgroups were differentiated along dimensions of sexual deviance. Implications for the utility of the Duthie and McIvor cluster-coding system are discussed.

Language: en