Data collection

The data for this research were collected by means of a combined questionnaire and structured interview which was developed as part of a larger research project (Looman, 1993). Each subject was interviewed by the researcher on an individual basis. The interview consisted of 84 questions concerning the frequency and content of the offender's fantasies, the conditions (emotional, interpersonal) under which they typically engage in fantasizing and other relevant topics. Some of the questions required a response limited to a choice of two to six possible answers, while others were open-ended questions to which the offender was able to answer freely. No questions regarding non-consenting sexual activity with adults were asked because the focus of this research was on fantasies about children. Permission was obtained to search subject's files for information concerning the actual offenses for each of these men.

Due to the large number of comparisons to be made, the probability of a Type I error during evaluation of the data was quite high. For this reason, a more conservative alpha level of .01 was used in evaluating the significance of the results.

RESULTS

Twenty-three child molesters responded to the interview, as well as 19 rapist and 19 non-sexual offenders. As expected, none of the rapists or non-sexual offenders admitted to fantasies about children under age 12 years. One of the rapists admitted to fantasies about females aged 12-15, as did 14 child molesters. Twelve child molesters admitted to fantasies about females under the age of 12 years. Two of the child molesters denied fantasies about people under the age of 16 years and were therefore not included in later analyses. In addition, two of the child molesters admitted to fantasies about adult males, and two to males under the age of 12.

Eight of the child molesters were exclusively incest offenders, that is, they offended against only their daughter or step-daughter. Comparisons on all relevant variables were made between these men and the other child molesters. Since no differences were found for the analyses reported below, the data from the incest offenders and other child molesters were combined.

Child molester and rapist groups were compared on the age of the adult in their fantasies. There was no significant difference found. The average age of the woman in the rapist's fantasies was 22 (SD=3.76) and in the child molester's fantasies it was 23 (SD=5.34). The age of the female child in the child molester's fantasy was available for 12 of the men. The age of the child ranged from 1 to 12 years, with an average of 8.33 years (SD=2.9). Similarly, the age of the teenaged girl in fantasies admitted to by 14 of the child molesters ranged from 12 to 15 years, with an average of 13.5 years (SD=.855). The average age of the child molesters' actual victims was 8.06 years (SD=2.6), and the average age of the rapists' victims was 26.08 years (SD=12.54). The age of the child molesters' victims and the children in their fantasies did not differ. Only three of the child molesters admitted to fantasies involving persuasion, and these fantasies were reported as occurring only occasionally. One of these men stated that his persuasive fantasies involved only promises of favours to gain compliance, while the other two stated that their persuasive fantasies involved restraint to gain compliance. None of the child molesters admitted to violent fantasies. No further analysis was conducted with these data, due to the small numbers.

Differences in the ratings of child and adult fantasies on the responses to questions regarding the feelings that accompany the fantasies were examined for child molesters. No differences were found for power, mildly angry, extremely angry, desired, sexual, pleasure or anxious, with responses being distributed across the three options (never, sometimes, often). Child molesters were more likely to report feeling scared and guilty and less likely to report feeling relaxed while fantasizing about children than when fantasizing about adults. Happiness was more likely to accompany adult than child fantasies.

Differences were also noted in the reported mood state preceding the fantasies of child molesters about children and adults as a test of Hypothesis 2. Child molesters reported that they were more likely to fantasize about a child than an adult if they were feeling depressed, argued with their wife or girlfriend, felt rejected by a woman or were angry. They were more likely to fantasize about an adult if they were happy, had a good day, or were feeling romantic.

The differences in moods were also examined across offender groups for adult fantasies only. First, an examination of feelings which accompany fantasies about adults found no differences between child molesters, rapists and non-sex offenders on feelings of being: powerful, anxious, scared, relaxed, extremely angry, pleasure, happy, desired and sexual. Although the differences did not reach significance at the .01 level, it is of note that rapists were somewhat more likely to fantasize when mildly angry (X²=10.31, p=.03). The non-sexual offenders were the only group that never fantasized in a state of anger, either mild or extreme.

With respect to emotional states that lead to fantasies about adults the only significant difference was that child molesters were unlikely to fantasize about an adult if feeling rejected by a woman. As mentioned earlier, there was a trend for rapists only to report a likelihood of fantasizing about an adult when angry.