Intimacy Deficits and the Attribution of Blame among Sexual Offenders

Intimacy, loneliness and attribution of blame measures were administered to groups of 25 child molesters, 25 rapists, and 25 non‐sex offenders, all incarcerated in an English prison. The results indicated that the child molesters were both more lonely and more lacking in intimacy than were either the rapists or the non‐sex offenders. The rapists were more lonely than the non‐sex offenders and their intimacy scores were also lower than the non‐sex offenders, although this latter difference did not quite achieve acceptable levels of statistical significance. Both groups of sexual offenders attributed more blame to women for the breakdown in a relationship, and the rapists made external attributions and the child molesters made internal attributions for their own problems in relationships. The results are discussed for their theoretical and treatment implications.