Papers by Raymond A Knight
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Nov 1, 1985
ABSTRACT
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Nov 11, 2010
Criminal Justice and Behavior, Jun 1, 1986
The present study examined three measures of impulsivity in samples of incarcerated rapists and c... more The present study examined three measures of impulsivity in samples of incarcerated rapists and child molesters. The focus of the investigation was the interrelation among these measures and the relation of these measures to juvenile and adult criminal behavior. The three measures correlated with different aspects of antisocial behavior, supporting the hypothesis that they tap different behavioral domains. The relative amount of planning and forethought manifested in the criminal act (the first measure) was unrelated to the other measures of impulsivity and covaried with sexual and aggressive motivational components of the offender. A general lifestyle of impulsive behavior as assessed by the MTC classification system (the second measure) was related to a general failure in the development of controls as reflected in preadolescent problems in mastery of life's tasks. Transiency, as reflected in ratings of aimlessness and unstable employment history (the third measure), defined most clearly a subgroup of child molesters characterized by a schizoid lack of cathexis, withdrawal and a seclusive, eccentric style. The results of this study have clear substantive implications both about the nature of impulsivity and its measurements, and about the specific MTC taxonomic distinctions that focus on impulsivity.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Mar 1, 1992
Women's resistance strategies to rape were examined using police reports and... more Women's resistance strategies to rape were examined using police reports and the court testimonies of 274 women who either avoided rape or were raped by subsequently incarcerated sex offenders. The sequence of behaviors in the offender-victim interaction was analyzed to determine whether women who resist rape with physical force are, as some have suggested, exacerbating the potential for physical injury
Psychological Reports, Apr 1, 1994
A sample of 29 men with an initial psychotic episode and diagnosis of schizophrenia as young adul... more A sample of 29 men with an initial psychotic episode and diagnosis of schizophrenia as young adults were followed into middle adulthood. All had prior child guidance clinic contact. The negative symptoms of affect deficit in young adulthood but not the positive symptoms of thought disorder were predicted by a history of birth complications. Subjects with birth complications who developed negative symptoms had a stable deficit over the follow-up period.
Child Abuse & Neglect, Oct 1, 2019
Background: Although research on the developmental antecedents of sexual offending has tended to ... more Background: Although research on the developmental antecedents of sexual offending has tended to focus on sexual abuse, recent research in juveniles and adults who have sexually offended suggests that psychological abuse perpetrated by a male caregiver may be a particularly important factor in the development of problematic sexual interests and behaviors. Objective: This study aimed to extend previous findings by investigating the association between psychological abuse by a male caregiver and problematic sexual outcomes in a sample of adult males who had sexually offended. Participants: Participants were 529 adult males incarcerated for sexual offenses, 21% of whom were civilly committed. Methods: Childhood maltreatment and problematic sexual outcomes were assessed using the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression, a contingency-based inventory that assesses domains related to sexual aggression. Hierarchical regressions were calculated examining the association between childhood abuse types and sexual outcomes. Results: Childhood sexual abuse was associated with child sexual (β = .247, p < .001) and other paraphilic interests (β = .189, p < .001). Male caregiver psychological abuse also emerged as marginally associated with child sexual interest (β = .100, p = .059), even after controlling for other abuse types. Conclusions: These results partially replicate recent findings in a juvenile sample and challenge conventional developmental theories of sexual offending, by suggesting that male caregiver psychological abuse may play a role in the etiology of child sexual interest among males who have sexually offended. This study also suggests a possible gender symmetry effect moderating the developmental consequences of abuse.
Elsevier eBooks, 2014
Using the overarching framework of the risk/needs/responsivity principles of Andrews and Bonta (2... more Using the overarching framework of the risk/needs/responsivity principles of Andrews and Bonta (2006), this chapter identifies the criminogenic needs that have been emerged most consistently as treatment targets for juveniles who have sexually offended (JSOs). Empirical studies supporting the selection of each domain are presented and the assessment tools that have the most research support with JSOs are described and evaluated. The treatment needs reviewed are: hypersexuality and sexual deviance; age and gender sexual preferences; antisocial behavior; callous-unemotional trait; aggressive fantasies and behavior; intimacy and friendships; and victimization. We recommend that clinicians assessing JSOs either generate their own batteries from the reviewed tools or select instruments using different methods that have been created to assess all of the critical domains.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1981
Childhood-symptom factors were assessed for a sample of 43 male children, initially diagnosed as ... more Childhood-symptom factors were assessed for a sample of 43 male children, initially diagnosed as schizophrenic during the young-adult period, in terms of their relationship to parental factors. The parental factors plus additional family variables not derived by factor analysis were evaluated as predictors of outcome over a 22-year period extending from early to middle adulthood. Two maternal factors, mother anxious and mother neglect, were significantly related to adult outcome within this sample of schizophrenics. The maternal factors were differentially associated with paternal factors, global judgments of severity of family disturbance, and childhood symptoms. Path analysis indicated that the severityof-family-disturbance measure had substantial, direct effects on adult measures with minimal mediation by childhood symptoms. In general, the relationships among variables suggested two family patterns consistent with the literature. The authors suggest that sampling bias associated with family intactness may contribute to the discrepant results in the family literature as it relates to schizophrenia. Childhood-symptom patterns have been extensively investigated by empirical methods. Literature reviews have indicated a well-established set of broad-band or secondorder factors (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1978; Quay, 1979). Externalizing or undersocialized, and internalizing or oversocialized symptoms emerge as the two most prominent broad-band factors. These factors have been reported across a wide range of samples, and across different checklists, informants, and investigators. Asocial and learning-problem factor dimensions have also been found in a number of studies. Their presence or absence in a given study appears to be dependent on sample characteristics and the particular checklist used (Lessing & Zagorin, 1971). A parallel line of research has used factor analytic techniques to discover parental childrearing patterns. Influenced by the work of Schaefer (Schaefer, 1959, 1965; Schaefer & We wish to acknowledge the assistance of Harold Kelso and David Cislo along with the cooperation provided by the Veterans Administration Hospital, Bedford, Massachusetts.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Aug 1, 1988
A principal objective of programmatic research at the Massachusetts Treatment Center over the pas... more A principal objective of programmatic research at the Massachusetts Treatment Center over the past ten years has been to organize a large database on sexually aggressive offenders into homogeneous and reliable scales and dimensions for the purpose of generating and validating clinically and heuristically useful classification systems for rapists. The original version of the Treatment Center classification system' focused on the relative contribution and interaction of sexual and aggressive motivations in men who sexually assault adult women. Cohen, Seghorn, and their colleagues argued that although all rape includes both motivational components, for some rapists the aim is primarily aggressive-to humiliate, defile, or injure-whereas for others the aim is primarily sexual, with a relative absence of violence and brutality. The dichotomization and crossing of these two motivational components yielded four types. These four types are presented in relation to other classification systems in TABLE 1. In the Compensatory type, the aim is hypothesized to be primarily sexual, with minimal aggression facilitating the gratification of the sexual fantasy. In the Displaced-Aggression type, the aim appears to be primarily aggression, with sexual behavior being used to degrade, defile, and physically harm the victim. In the Sex-Aggression Defusion type, sexual and aggressive feelings are synergistically intertwined, and there is a sadistic quality to the assault. Finally, in the Impulse type, the assault is predatory and neither sexual nor aggressive motives appear to be important. Subsequent studies using this system suggested that simply looking at the two primary motives (sex and aggression) failed to capture the heterogeneity of the offenders observed at the Treatment Center. The need to examine multimotivational 'This work was supported by the National Institute of Justice (82-IJ-CX-0058), the National Institute of Mental Health (MH32309), and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978
A young adult sample of acute schizophrenics was followed through record sources into middle age.... more A young adult sample of acute schizophrenics was followed through record sources into middle age. Antecedent childhood information was also obtained. Three aspects of schizophrenia (psychotic thinking, affectivity, and social competence) were assessed in terms of long-term stability and prediction of outcome criteria. Measures of psychotic thinking were found to lack both stability and predictive validity. In contrast, a combined measure of affectivity and social competence was stable over time and was significantly related to eventual outcome. Childhood factors were also related to adult outcome variables. Implications for research definitions of schizophrenia are discussed.
Journal of Personality Disorders, Apr 1, 2010
The purpose of this study was to test whether prior conduct disorder increased deviance in person... more The purpose of this study was to test whether prior conduct disorder increased deviance in persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. One hundred and three male inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder achieved significantly higher scores on self-report measures of criminal thinking and antisocial attitudes than 137 male inmates satisfying only the adult criteria for antisocial personality disorder and 87 male nonantisocial inmates. Inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder were also more likely to receive disciplinary infractions for misconduct than inmates in the other two conditions. The theoretical, diagnostic, and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1980
In an earlier study , the present authors found poor prognosis schizophrenics deficient in integr... more In an earlier study , the present authors found poor prognosis schizophrenics deficient in integrating sentences into a single idea. The present study explored their ability to integrate in a less complex task that used visual patterns. 60 male psychiatric inpatients (schizophrenic or nonpsychotic) and 15 controls (mean age, approximately 32 yrs) completed the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale. They were
Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dec 4, 2017
Severe sexual sadism is a disorder of sexual preferences that focuses on humiliation and dominati... more Severe sexual sadism is a disorder of sexual preferences that focuses on humiliation and domination of the victim, sometimes causing grievous injury or death. Because offenders with high levels of sadism represent a risk to both reoffend and cause considerable harm should they reoffend, a diagnosis of sexual sadism has serious implications. The actual diagnosis of sexual sadism is fraught with problems (i.e., low reliability and validity) and exhibits poor consistency across assessments and studies (Levenson, 2004; Marshall, Kennedy, & Yates, 2002a). Various authors have proposed that sadism should be reconceptualized and have suggested that a dimensional approach may be more effective than a classificatory one for diagnosing sexual sadism (e.g., Marshall & Kennedy, 2003; Nietschke, Osterheider, & Mokros, 2009b). The dimension versus taxon question also impacts debates about the etiology and treatment of sadism. We assessed the taxonicity of sexual sadism by conducting a taxometric analysis of the scores of 474 sex offenders from penitentiary settings on the MTC Sexual Sadism Scale,using Meehl's taxometric methods (Meehl &Yonce, 1994; Waller & Meehl, 1998). Findings indicated that sexual sadism presents a clear underlying dimensional structure. These results are consistent with earlier research supporting a dimensional assessment of sexual sadism and indicate that the diagnosis of sexual sadism should be reconceptualized. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Criminal Justice and Behavior, Sep 1, 1995
Women's resistance strategies to rape were examined using police reports and the court testim... more Women's resistance strategies to rape were examined using police reports and the court testimonies of 147 women who either had avoided rape or were raped by subsequently incarcerated rapists. Analyses examined whether particular resistance strategies used by women were differentially effective in response to attacks by different types of rapists. The results provided little evidence that the type of rapist influenced the efficacy of women's resistance strategies for avoiding rape and physical injury. This overall lack of significance suggests that previous findings showing that women's use of forceful resistance strategies enhances their ability to avoid rape without increasing their physical injury are accurate and do not need to be qualified based on the type of rapist committing the assault.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Jun 1, 1989
Knight, Carter, and Prentky (1989) have proposed a typology that attempts to meet the need for a ... more Knight, Carter, and Prentky (1989) have proposed a typology that attempts to meet the need for a clearly operationalized, reliable, valid taxonomic system for child molesters (Massachusetts Treatment Center Child Molester Typology [MTC:CM3]). In creating this typology they made several assumptions about the interrelations among the components of their system. Because these hypothetical relations provided critical structural underpinnings for MTC:CM3, it was essential that the validity of these assumptions be tested. In the present study, the assignments of 177 child molesters to MTC:CM3 were examined to determine whether the distribution of offenders into the proposed types was consistent with the underlying structural hypotheses. In every case the distribution of offenders corroborated the structural hypotheses.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1977
Knight, Sims-Knight, and Petchers found a significant relation among schizo-phrenics between good... more Knight, Sims-Knight, and Petchers found a significant relation among schizo-phrenics between good picture-recognition memory and Payne's index of over-inclusion as measured by the Object Classification Test. The present experi-ment addressed the problem of what specific ...
Psychologica Belgica, 1999
The Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression (the MASA) was initially created to supplem... more The Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression (the MASA) was initially created to supplement the often poorly represented information in the archival records of sex offenders and to provide sufficient data to classify adult sex offenders. It has now been revised four times, expanding the breadth of its assessment, simplifying its language to make it appropriate for juveniles, and computerizing its administration. This article summarizes some of the recent reliability and validity analyses that have been calculated on a wide variety of samples including college students, community noncriminals, non-sex offending criminals, and adult and juvenile sex offenders. Continued reliability and cross-sample stability of factor structures and the intercorrelations across I its scales suggest that the inventory shows promise as a useful assessment instrument for sex offenders.
Development and Psychopathology, Apr 1, 1989
In this study, 82 sex offenders incarcerated at the Massachusetts Treatment Center were administe... more In this study, 82 sex offenders incarcerated at the Massachusetts Treatment Center were administered a brief structured clinical interview focusing on caregiver and institutional history up to age 18. Interview data were examined along with archival information coded from the clinical files. Four factors were derived from principal components analysis and were entered into a series of multiple regression analyses. There were two noteworthy results. First, sexual and nonsexual aggression in adulthood each were related to distinct aspects of developmental history. Whereas caregiver inconstancy and sexual deviation in the family were related to the severity of sexual aggression, childhood and juvenile institutional history and physical abuse and neglect were associated with severity of /jonsexual aggression. Second, contrary to previous studies of other criminal populations, the severity of aggression rather than frequency of crimes was predicted by developmental history. The results of the study suggest that childhood experiences with and disruption of caregiver relationships may be important to understanding sexual aggression in adulthood.
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Papers by Raymond A Knight