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The perpetration of sexual coercion is a complex public health problem associated with many kinds of deficits. The literature has shown that women also perpetrate sexually coercive behaviours. Recent work has suggested that this kind of behaviour could be explained by two distinct developmental pathways. However, this model does not allow the authors to identify how the individual processes social information in situ and may decide to resort to coercive behaviours. This study aimed to investigate the role of social information processing in women’s sexual coercion.

A sample of 125 French-speaking women from the general population were recruited to complete online questionnaires pertaining to dark triad personality traits, emotion abilities, alexithymia and antecedents of sexual coercion.

Results revealed that women with a history of sexual coercion had a significantly higher narcissistic traits score and more emotion regulation (ER) deficits than those without a history. For women with a history of sexual coercion perpetration, correlational analyses showed positive correlations, respectively, between psychopathic traits and alexithymia and between Machiavellianism and deficits in ER.

These results contribute to identifying the deficits relating to SIP in terms of sexual coercion perpetrated by women. Women with a history of sexual coercion perpetration appear to endorse more dark triad traits and to have ER issues. Certain level of these deficits could be a trigger and affect the SIP of women and increase the likelihood behaving in a sexually coercive manner.

The purpose of this study is to examine emotional states preceding and during sexual crimes in a Dutch sample of adult male patients who were admitted to mandated clinical care.

Emotional states preceding child sexual abuse (CSA) (n = 63) and rape against adults (n = 60) were compared using the Mode Observation Scale.

CSA and rape were equally preceded by feelings of vulnerability, undifferentiated anger and loneliness and characterised by callous unemotionality. Emotional manipulation was more dominant in the events leading up to CSA, whereas an exaggerated sense of self-worth was more dominant in the event preceding rape. Substance-related detachment was more common preceding rape but was equally common during both types of crimes. Controlled anger was more common in rape.

CSA and rape crimes are predominantly characterised by similar emotional states of persons who were admitted to mandated clinical care. This informs the development of more effective therapeutic interventions and support services tailored to the emotional profiles of patients, potentially improving rehabilitation or treatment outcomes. Scientifically, the results of this study provide a compelling foundation for further research into the psychological mechanisms underpinning sexual violence.

While previous research has often focused on these crimes in isolation, this study bridges a critical gap by examining the emotional commonalities between them. This study challenges the conventional understanding that treats these forms of sexual violence as entirely distinct, proposing instead that they may share underlying emotional dynamics.

The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive value of psychopathy features on crime-related emotional states in forensic male patients with offence histories who were mandated to Dutch clinical care.

The study had a retrospective design in which psychopathy features were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. For each patient, information on the events leading up to the crime and a description of the crime itself were extracted from the hospital record to assess emotional states. These crime-related emotional states were assessed using the mode observation scale. The sample consisted of 175 patients with offence histories.

Multiple regression analyses indicated that affective features of psychopathy were a negative predictor for feelings of vulnerability in the events leading up to the crime but not predictive of loneliness. The interpersonal features were predictive of deceit during criminal behaviour.

This study leads to a better, more nuanced and substantiated understanding of which emotional states play a prominent role in criminal behaviour and how these states are affected by psychopathic traits. This knowledge can influence existing treatment programmes for patients with offence histories.

Several studies have examined the relationship between emotional states and criminal behaviour and between psychopathy and emotions, but less is known about the predictive relationship between psychopathy features and crime-scene-related emotional states.