Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Sex Offenders
Full course description
As awareness about the prevalence of sexual violence has increased in recent times, the field of forensic mental health services has a growing need for psychologists who are knowledgeable and trained in the field of assessment and treatment of sex offenders. Main topics in this course include: conceptual clarification (e.g. sex offending vs. paraphilia vs. paraphilic disorder), defining abnormal sexual behaviour, theoretical models of the etiology of sexual offending, assessment of psychological characteristics (of online vs. offline) sex offenders, sexual violence risk assessment, treatment options, female sex offenders and internet sexual offending.
Course objectives
By the end of the course students will be able to:
- understand and explain the phenomenology of sexual offending behaviours and sex offenders;
- know, understand, explain and apply the theoretical models of sexual offending;
- know and interpret the assessment instruments that (attempt to) measure paraphilic sexual arousal;
- know, understand, and compare treatment options for sex offenders and their effectiveness;
- understand and explain the role of gender in sexual offending behavior
- know the diverse types of internet sexual offending, their risk assessment, and preventive measures
PSY4609
Period 5
7 Apr 2025
6 Jun 2025
ECTS credits:
2.0Instruction language:
EnglishCoordinator:
Teaching methods:
PBL, Lecture(s)Assessment methods:
Attendance, Written examKeywords:
Phenomenology, sexual deviancy, diagnostic instruments, treatment