ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to review the empirical literature on the use of various physiological assessment techniques with adolescent sexual offenders, including the penile plethysmograph, the Abel Screen, and the polygraph. Physiological measures have been utilised in the assessment of youthful and adult sexual offenders. These measures are useful in guiding treatment planning and informing risk management. Specific to treatment planning, these measures are often helpful in addressing the issue of denial and minimisation of sexual offending behaviour. It is important for clinicians and the general public alike to understand the motivation for youth denying and/or minimising such behaviour. Our society at large has an extremely negative and punitive response when a disclosure occurs regarding sexual offending behaviour for both juveniles and adults. The response of society and the possible consequences to the juvenile of disclosing can greatly impact the amount of information that a juvenile is willing to disclose. With the use of physiological assessment instruments clinicians can become more informed in their formulations than when they rely solely on the self-report and disclosure offered by a person who has engaged in sexually abusive behaviour. Three methods of psychophysiological assessment are described below: the plethysmograph, the Abel Screen, and the polygraph. For each method research data, advantages and limitations will be outlined.
