The Covariation of Sexual Fantasies and Behaviors Among Self-Identified Sexually Aggressive Criminal and Noncriminal Samples

• Author: Lauryn Vander Molen,Scott T. Ronis,Raymond A. Knight
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X19895905
• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19895905

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(5) 517 –537

© The Author(s) 2019

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X19895905

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Article

The Covariation of Sexual

Fantasies and Behaviors

Among Self-Identified

Sexually Aggressive Criminal

and Noncriminal Samples

Scott T. Ronis1, Raymond A. Knight2,

and Lauryn Vander Molen1

Abstract

This study examined the association of sexually appetitive fantasies and sexually

coercive behaviors among adult men convicted of nonsexual crimes (n = 159)

and adult men with no criminal histories (n = 219). Individuals completed the

Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression (MASA) and, on the basis of

these reports, were classified whether or not they had ever attempted to assault or

coerce someone sexually. Consistent with fewer opportunities to engage in sexual

behavior, individuals with criminal histories reported generally less preoccupation,

compulsivity, and frequency than did noncriminal individuals. Regardless of criminal

history, self-identified sexually coercive men reported significantly more sexually

appetitive fantasy and behavior in general and sexually deviant behavior in particular

than did noncoercive males. Implications of these findings for research, theory, and

dispositional decisions are discussed.

Keywords

sexual coercion, sexual fantasy, sexual behavior, sexual deviance, paraphilias

Several theories and etiological models have maintained that some aspect of sexual

fantasy or appetitive behavior is a critical component of sexual aggression (Chan

1University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada

2Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Scott T. Ronis, Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick,

Canada E3B 5A3.

Email: sronis@unb.ca

895905IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X19895905International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyRonis et al.

research-article2019

518 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 66(5)

et al., 2011; Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003, 2004, 2011; Malamuth, 1998; Thomas &

Gorzalka, 2012) and may be an underlying component of other “volitional impair-

ments” of sexual behavior (Kafka & Hennen, 2003). These positions have been

supported by research demonstrating that an earlier onset of sexual experiences

linked with higher sexual appetite (Abbey et al., 2001; Casey et al., 2009) and devi-

ant sexual interests (e.g., Chan & Beauregard, 2016; Kerr et al., 2013; Mokros

et al., 2014) are associated with sexual aggression. The specific nature of how

sexual fantasies and behavior are linked with sexual aggression is not, however,

well established.

Consistent with etiological models of sexual aggression among male youths and

adults, appetitive sexual fantasies and behaviors (Beauregard et al., 2004; Knight &

Sims-Knight, 2003, 2004, 2011) and preference for impersonal sex (Malamuth,

2003) have been shown to predict frequency of coercive behavior against same-aged

female peers and adult women. Theories have varied, however, in the particular

aspects of sexual attitudes and behavior patterns hypothesized to be critical for spe-

cific offenses, with some emphasizing sexual arousal, preoccupation, and deviance,

and others emphasizing promiscuity and a preference for impersonal sex (see Lussier

& Cale, 2016, for a review). Moreover, although some studies have explored the

covariation between aspects of criminality (i.e., antisociality, impulsivity, and psy-

chopathy) and heightened sexualization (Knight & Graham, 2017), it is unclear

whether separate explanations of sexual aggression are warranted for criminal ver-

sus noncriminal samples (Knight & Guay, 2006, 2018). Knight and colleagues

(Johnson & Knight, 2000; Knight & Sims-Knight, 2003, 2004, 2011) have found a

consistent link between the latent traits of callous manipulativeness and hypersexu-

ality. Because their models at times have worked better by considering the two traits

as a single latent trait (e.g., Knight & Sims-Knight, 2013), Knight and Guay (2018)

have speculated about a hypothesized shared neurocircuitry. In particular, height-

ened sexual drive (based on sexual frequency, preoccupation, and excitement, as

well as proclivity to engage in impersonal sexual behavior) and risk-taking, fearless,

callous, and manipulative (RFCM) aspects of psychopathy, which are associated

generally with criminal behavior, may share a hyperreactive mesolimbic dopaminer-

gic system or activation of the socioemotional system of the brain (Knight &

Graham, 2017). To investigate a potential link between hypersexuality and RFCM

traits, it is important for researchers to examine a range of sexual attitudes and

behaviors among both criminal and noncriminal samples.

Early research has linked rape-supportive attitudes and sexually aggressive fanta-

sies (Plaud & Bigwood, 1997), and men who reported sexually coercive attitudes and

experiences have been found to have more sexually explicit fantasies and a higher

number of sexual partners (Gold & Clegg, 1990). Furthermore, men who identified as

being sexually coercive have higher levels of both sexually appetitive fantasy and

sexually deviant behavior (Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987). More recent research has

supported these results, as individuals who endorsed rape myths, hold negative atti-

tudes toward women, and hold heteronormative beliefs were most likely to support the

use of coercion and report engaging in sexual coercion (DeGue et al., 2010; Eaton &