Risk factors for sexual offending indicating innovative approaches to treatment

Anthony R. Beech

The brain is organized and sculpted by a life-time of experiences, these being especially important pre/peri-natally, and in infancy and adolescence. Evidence would suggest that early adverse experiences, in an interaction with genetic and biological factors, can adversely affect brain development. The ensuing atypical morphological organization could result in social withdrawal, pathological shyness, explosive and inappropriate emotionality, and an inability to form normal emotional attachments and this sets the scene for later criminality, including sexual offending. Evidence for this is that a number of pre/peri/postnatal risk factors have been identified in offenders. It is argued in the talk that understanding how these risk factors affect the brain is the first step in being able to ameliorate such risk factors, by the use of appropriate brain-based interventions.

Anthony R. Beech is Professor Emeritus in Criminological Psychology at the University of Birmingham a fellow of the British Psychological Society and ATSA. He has authored over 190 peer-reviewed articles, 50 book chapters and 10 books in the area of forensic science/criminal justice. In 2009 he received the Significant Achievement Award from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers in Dallas, and the Senior Award from the Division of Forensic Psychology, British Psychological Society.