https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063219893370
Sexual Abuse
1–29
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1079063219893370
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Article
Differentiating Individuals
Convicted of Sexual Offenses:
A Two-Country Latent
Class Analysis
Pascalle Spaan
1
, Arjan Blokland
2
,
Rembert De Blander
3
, Luc Robert
3,4
, Eric Maes
3
,
Martine Blom
5
, and Bouke Wartna
5
Abstract
Sexual offenses are often part of a larger criminal career also encompassing nonsexual
crimes. However, most sexual offending typologies focus on an individual’s most
recent sexual offense. We compare data from Belgian and Dutch national conviction
cohorts and use latent class analysis to distinguish groups of individuals based on
their history of sexual and nonsexual offenses, considering continuity and variety.
The resulting classification is compared between individuals convicted of sexual
offenses and individuals convicted of nonsexual offenses. Results show that four
latent classes can be distinguished based on continuity and variety in criminal histories
of individuals convicted of sexual offenses, and that some of these classes resemble
those distinguished among individuals convicted of nonsexual offenses. We find
limited overlap between these latent classes and typologies based solely on the index
offense. Results show marked similarities across countries. These results challenge
theories of sexual offending to incorporate patterns of nonsexual offending.
Keywords
criminal career, offender typology, longitudinal, comparative, sexual offending
1
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Amsterdam and Leiden University,
The Netherlands
3
Nationaal Instituut voor Criminalistiek en Criminologie, Brussels, Belgium
4
Ghent University, Belgium
5
Research and Documentation Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands
Corresponding Author:
Pascalle Spaan, Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Dr.
Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Email: p.spaan@erasmusmc.nl
893370SAX XX X 10.1177/1079063219893370Sexual AbuseSpaan et al.
research-article 2019