Noncompleted Sexual Offenses: Internal States, Risks and Difficulties Related to Crime Commission through the Lens of Sexual Offenders

• Author: Benoit Leclerc,Richard Wortley,Danielle Reynald,Alana Cook,Jesse Cale
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20967944
• Published date: 01 March 2023
• Date: 01 March 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20967944

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2023, Vol. 67(4) 295 –313

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20967944

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Article

Noncompleted Sexual

Offenses: Internal States,

Risks and Difficulties Related

to Crime Commission

through the Lens of Sexual

Offenders

Benoit Leclerc1, Richard Wortley2,

Danielle Reynald1, Alana Cook3,

and Jesse Cale1

Abstract

The study aims to generate insights from sexual offenders on the influence of internal

states and how they perceive risks of apprehension and difficulties in the context

of noncompleted sexual offenses, that is when offenders initiated the offense but

were stopped or discouraged either before or during sexual contact. Adult males

incarcerated for sexually offending completed a self-report questionnaire. Regression

models, including interaction effects, were estimated. Two interaction effects were

found providing insights into which and how internal states, such as intoxication to

alcohol, may influence perceived difficulties related to crime. Future research should

promote the investigation of noncompleted sexual offenses, which could provide a

real opportunity to generate new or complementary insights for better understanding

and guiding prevention initiatives.

Keywords

sexual offenses, attempted offenses, noncompleted offenses, risks of apprehension,

difficulties of committing crime, crime prevention

1Griffith University, Queensland, Australia

2University College London, London

3New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney NSW, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Benoit Leclerc, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, 176

Messines Ridge Road, Queensland 4111, Australia.

Email: b.leclerc@griffith.edu.au

967944IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X20967944International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyLeclerc et al.

research-article2020

296 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 67(4)

Introduction

Empirical studies in criminology often provide insights that can be useful for prevent-

ing crime, or at the very least, better understanding it. These insights are typically

extracted from a variety of sources including victim surveys, police reports, aggre-

gated crime statistics, publicly available data, and offenders themselves, who are argu-

ably the most informative source for developing crime prevention initiatives (Bernasco,

2010; Cornish & Clarke, 1986; Jacques & Bonobo, 2016; Leclerc & Savona, 2016;

Leclerc & Wortley, 2013). However, preventing crime events is one field that continu-

ally requires fresh ideas and novel approaches to gather new empirical evidence, accu-

mulate knowledge and maintain relevance (Ekblom & Tilley, 2000). Research on why

offenders don’t commit crimes can offer unique insights and build evidence into what

measures might be taken to deter potential offenders in the future (Lindegaard et al.,

2015). However, to our knowledge, little research has explored sexual offenses that the

offenders had initiated but were stopped or discouraged during the process of commit-

ting a crime, resulting in a noncompleted sexual offense. This absence of research may

be partly due to the difficulties of accessing these offenders and obtaining data on

noncompleted crimes in the first place.

In this study, we follow a promising and relatively new line of inquiry led by

researchers in the Netherlands who examined attempted robberies with the view to

building empirical evidence for informing stimulating crime prevention initiatives

(Lindegaard & Bernasco, 2016; Lindegaard et al., 2015). Specifically, we examine

how sexual offenders perceive the risks of apprehension and difficulties associated

with the commission of a sexual offense in cases in which the offense was in fact non-

completed, resulting in an attempted offense. In this context, the offense was initiated

but stopped or discouraged before or during sexual contact. Therefore, the study offers

two main contributions: (a) it investigates and highlights the importance of examining

noncompleted sexual offenses; and (b) it examines internal states in this context thus

clarifying how offenders might be perceiving risks of apprehension and difficulties

related to crime commission in the context of noncompleted sexual offenses. This

study represents one of the first critical steps toward generating offender-based insights

on what may impact offender decision-making during sexual offenses in order to ulti-

mately prevent or reduce crime commission.

Previous Criminological Studies on the Rationales

Underlying Sexual Offenders’ Decision-Making (Risks of

Apprehension and Internal States)

The application of a criminological framework for understanding sexual crime events

now goes back more than a decade (e.g., Beauregard et al., 2005; Leclerc et al., 2006),

yet it is still scarce when it comes to generating insights for prevention initiatives (e.g.,

Leclerc et al., 2009, 2011; Wortley & Smallbone, 2006). Beauregard and Leclerc

(2007) conducted a comprehensive study on sexual offenders’ decision-making by

examining the rationales of offenders before, during and after the crime event. They