An empirical investigation of the Ward & Hudson self-regulation model of the sexual offence process with child abusers

In all, 87 child abusers were classified as belonging to one of the four pathway groups identified by Ward and Hudson's self-regulation model of the sexual offense process. This model distinguishes between offenders who hate approach or avoidant goals and between their use of active or passive strategies. Results demonstrated that the model reliably identified abusers. Approach, compared to avoidant, goal abusers reported significantly higher levels of cognitive distortions, emotional congruence, and distortions about the impact of the abuse on their victims. They were also generally found to be extrafamilial, or extrafamilial plus intrafamilial, offenders and to have boy or both sex victims. Avoidant goal abusers were generally found to be in a long-term relationship at the time of the offense, to have children, and to have offended against girls. Passive, compared to active strategy, abusers were more likely to blame external circumstances for their offending and have previous convictions for sexual offenses.