Innovations and Controversies in Personality and Risk Assessment of Sexual Offending
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2027 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sexual arousal; nonconsensual and abusive sexual behaviors; methods for assessing sexual interest and risk; assessment of personality pathology
Interests: personality assessment; issues related to forensic evaluation
Interests: dimensional models of personality pathology; personality assessment; intimate partner violence; general violence; methods for assessing intimate, sexual, and general violence risk
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forensic evaluations involving individuals who engage in illegal and/or nonconsensual sexual behavior carry significant legal, clinical and public safety implications. Given the high-stakes nature of these determinations, the accurate assessment of risk and personality functioning remains both essential and contested. Over the past several decades, advances in actuarial risk instruments, structured professional judgment approaches, dimensional models of personality and the integration of static, dynamic and protective factors have reshaped the field. At the same time, ongoing debates regarding construct validity, cultural applicability, ethical considerations and the limits of prediction continue to challenge researchers and practitioners.
This Special Issue seeks theoretical and empirical contributions that advance understanding of risk factors, risk assessment methodologies and personality characteristics associated with sexual offending. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that examine the integration of static and dynamic risk factors, protective factors, dimensional and transdiagnostic models of personality, methodological innovations and areas of scientific or legal controversy. Interdisciplinary perspectives bridging psychology, psychiatry, criminology, law and related fields are encouraged.
Dr. Emily D. Gottfried
Dr. Abby Mulay
Dr. Kelsey Priebe
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sexual offenses
- risk assessment
- personality pathology
- paraphilic disorders
- protective factors
- dimensional models of personality
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