ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 25 May 2022

doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.845670

Onset Crime Typology of Sexual

Offenders and Their Differences on
Specialization and Risk Factors
Chien Huang 1 , Sheng-Ang Shen 1,2* and Tao-Hsin Tung 3*
1
Department of Clinical Psychology, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, 2 Department
of Crime Prevention and Correction, Central Police University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 3 Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Taizhou
Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated With Wenzhou Medical University, Linhai, China

In those theories or empirical-evident model of sexual offending, they all recognized

which major life event would cause the sex offense in some conditions, therefore the
onset crime of sexual offenders were not only a mark of personal history, but also could
reflect the heterogeneity of sexual offenders. Our purpose is to study the onset crime
typology of sexual offender and their difference in specialization, problem of psychology
marks, and negative developmental experiences. We analyzed the pre-conviction data
from 3,750 sexual offenders and their risk assessment data. The research results found
that onset typology of sex crime would persist their criminal career into sexual offending,
Edited by:
Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan, and through the group comparisons, the study pointed out differences in risk factors
City University of Hong Kong, domain and adverse development experiences. We also discussed those research
Hong Kong SAR, China
results and their meaning of risk management.
Reviewed by:
Samuel Adjorlolo, Keywords: sexual offenders, onset typology, sex crime, specialization, risk factors
University of Ghana, Ghana
Matt DeLisi,
Iowa State University, United States
Yian Xu,
INTRODUCTION
New York University, United States
The severe and long-term physical and mental health issues caused by sexual assaults should be a
*Correspondence: major public concern (Hutchings and Dutton, 1993; McMahon, 2000; Cloutier et al., 2002; Elliott
Sheng-Ang Shen
et al., 2004). Many of the existing studies on sexual offending have focused on the risk factors
shen@mail.cpu.edu.tw
Tao-Hsin Tung
and the resulting psychopathological or etiological models, such as the etiological model of sexual
ch2876@gmail.com recidivism risk proposed by Ward and Beech (2006) or the descriptive models developed by Ward
and other research teams based on interview data and the grounded theory (Ward and Hudson,
Specialty section: 1998, 2000; Hudson et al., 1999; Polaschek et al., 2001). These models focus on understanding
This article was submitted to the evolution process of sexual offending, which starts from the distal factors or background
Forensic and Legal Psychology, factors rather than from the sexual offenders themselves. Studies have also attempted to analyze
a section of the journal the responses of sexual offenders to sexual arousal-related stimuli to infer the underlying cognitive
Frontiers in Psychology
structures and operation process characteristics. The causes of sexual assaults exhibit three primary
Received: 04 January 2022 components: certain key events in development, the shaping of risk factors, and sexual offenses
Accepted: 17 March 2022
derived from internal and external stimuli. Therefore, Thornton (2002), and Beech et al. (2002) all
Published: 25 May 2022
highlighted that sexual offenders not only exhibit differences in their static risk factors, but their
Citation: dynamic risk factors also vary. When sexual offenders focus on dynamic risk factors on different
Huang C, Shen S-A and Tung T-H
levels, it results in different types of offending pathway described by Ward and Siegert (2002).
(2022) Onset Crime Typology
of Sexual Offenders and Their
Both descriptive and etiological models of sexual offending and the characteristics of cognitive
Differences on Specialization and Risk structures and operations indicate that aspects of previous experiences in the lives of sexual
Factors. Front. Psychol. 13:845670. offenders have an impact on the trajectory and shaping of sexual assault, which cannot be ignored,
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.845670 particularly aspects that open them up to violence or offenses. For instance, Malamuth (2003)

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

adopted an empirical approach and used a confluence model offender’s next offense. However, these researchers did not
constructed based on the tests and follow-ups of general adults in discuss whether recidivism ultimately leads toward specialized or
communities, a path that was named the impersonal sex path, to versatile criminal patterns. Smallbone and Wortley (2004) also
emphasize that the sexual aggression of sex offenders is propelled mentioned that before criminals first sexually offend, they are
by a series of abusive experiences and early criminal or deviant likely to have already committed non-sexual offenses, such as
behavior in their upbringing. However, past studies have rarely violent offenses, property offenses, or addiction. The research
discussed the snowball effect in the trajectories of the criminal results above lead us to the following question worth exploring
career of sexual offenders (Lussier and Brassard, 2015; Smallbone further: does the onset typology of sexual offenders also reflect
and Cale, 2015). essential differences in their sexual offending?
Using the criminal records of over 3,000 sexual offenders, Thus, the objective of this study was to group sexual
Huang et al. (2017) study employed group-based trajectory offenders by their onset typologies and compare their criminal
modeling to analyze the variations in the criminal career characteristics. Because there is no consensus used crime
trajectories of four categories of sexual offenders. They further categories, our study tried to referenced the research strategies
inferred that the age of onset for sexual offending has a from different studies to choose this four type of onset crime,
crucial impact on sexual and general recidivism, and this view and it was also convention in criminology (e.g., Mazerolle et al.,
is consistent with the integrated theory of sexual offending 2000; Harris et al., 2009; Harris, 2012). We referred to the
proposed by Ward and Beech (2006), in which the onset of analysis method used by Harris (2012), who advocates that
sexual offending is a significant event in an individual’s life and onset typology exerts a critical impact on subsequent criminal
changes the individual’s ecological environment and learning career. We utilized information from official criminal records
experience. Both Thakker and Ward (2015) indicated that onset (criminal record files) and focused on four onset typologies:
is one of the key factors influencing the changes in the criminal sexual offenses, violent offenses, property offenses, and addiction.
career of a sexual offender. Some of researches already found We conducted in-depth analyses to compare the specialization,
that offending types at a stark point of the life course has risk factor levels, and basic criminal variables of the onset
certain meanings in different type of offenders (e.g., Mazerolle typologies in order to understand the nature of the careers of
et al., 2010; DeLisi et al., 2015). Regardless those theoretical sexual criminals.
perspectives, we still need to have a close investigation on
whether the initial offense categories shape the criminal career
as specialization or versatility offenders that are largely under MATERIALS AND METHODS
researched in sexual offender in Taiwan.
Past studies on sexual offending have mostly focused on Research Procedure
the fact that a significant correlation exists between the age at Under the legal procedure of Taiwan, all sexual offenders should
which sexual violence is committed and the subsequent sexual get into community treatment in order to monitoring and make
recidivism of the sexual offender (Hirschi and Gottfredson, 1983; sure public safety. Therefore, first step of community treatment is
Barbaree and Blanchard, 2008). However, Lussier and Brassard to do risk assessment, all information is imported into a special
(2015) noted that the age of onset of sexual offending is important database system, which is called “National Domestic Violence,
because it marks the situational context and environmental Sexual Assault, and Children-Juvenile Protection Information
factors that initiate sexual offending. The other study examined System,” it belongs to Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan.
the recidivism risk of sexual offenders based on their criminal This study was a research project commissioned by same unit
records and indicated that past investigations of the rates of (project case no. M04B3252). All risk assessment done by
sexual recidivism overlooked the versatility of crime. They found trained therapist.
that for those whose first official criminal record was a sexual Research data were delinked export from this database system,
offense, the risk of them committing a sexual offense again within and then, in accordance with the regulations of the Personal Data
5 years was 13%; however, for those whose first official criminal Protection Act, a case handler anonymized all of the required
record was a non-sexual crime, the risk of them committing a data before providing the data over to our research team, such
sexual offense within 5 years was over 40%. The results above that the file for each sample was only marked with a case
demonstrate the possibility of variations in a sexual offender’s number. The procedures and methods employed in this study
criminal career. If it begins with sexual offending, the risk were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board
or possibility that it will be oriented toward sexual crime is of Fu Jen Catholic University (project approval no. C103152).
close to the risk or possibility that it will be oriented toward In order to analysis onset group typology, our research team
non-sexual crime (13 vs. 15%). However, if a criminal career looked for the Offense Determination Table and transcribed
begins with a non-sexual crime, there is a greater chance that the criminal record data by age at the time of offense and
the offender will commit a sexual crime in the future (41 vs. by the type of offense. Then we also extracted the Static-99,
29%). No matter how these are interpreted though, it seems acute dynamic risk factors, stable dynamic risk factors, and
that criminal careers that begin with a non-sexual crime are the four items of developmental history (any childhood sexual
likely to be versatile. With regard to the integrated theory of victimization, poor family relationship, maladaptive in school,
sexual offending, Ward and Beech (2006), Smallbone and Cale and any conduct problems under 18) from the assessment data as
(2015), or other theoretical perspectives of sexual offending group comparison variables and used them to retrospective the
mentioned that previous criminal outcomes will influence an potential influence of the onset offense typology.

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

Research Participants All of our research participants came from a special database
All obtained data regarding 8,370 sexual offenders from 2007 system just for sexual offenders in Taiwan, so we did select their
to June of 2015 from the database system. Inspecting the pre-convictions to find out four types of onset. In our research
completeness of the data and removing any samples lacking data, number and proportion of onset typology are: sex (n = 488,
criminal record data for onset typology analysis resulted in data 59.6%), violence (n = 78, 9.5%), property (n = 121, 14.8%), and
from 3,750 sexual offenders. Furthermore, we removed samples addiction (n = 37, 4.5%). We listed in Table 2.
with overly incomplete data, that is when lack of any one of However, our research found significant differences in onset
index sexual offense information, criminal records, and risk group comparison of number of sexual offenses, age of first
scales, research team would define them as overly incomplete offense, and intervals of any offense. For further analysis, research
data and excluded for data analysis. Followed this procedure, results pointed out the sex onset offending group was higher than
which resulted in complete risk assessment data from 819 sexual addiction onset offending group in “number of sexual offenses.”
offenders for group comparison analysis. As shown in Table 1, But both of “age of first offense” and “intervals of any offense”
the mean age of onset typology group was 38 years old (standard were significant higher in violence and property onset offending
deviation: 13.47 years). On average, the official criminal records groups than the other onset groups. When we analyzed the victim
could be traced back 8.68 years in the past. The mean age of type differences of different onset groups, the research found that
the samples in the group difference comparison was close to the sex onset offending group had more than 50% of adolescence type
previous mean age. Further examination of the age and how of victim, but in the addiction onset offending group was adult
far back the data could be traced revealed that the differences female type of victim.
between two groups with regard to these two variables were
not significant. In addition, we observed whether the research Static-99
samples had any prior convictions aside from the most recent This scale makes assessments based on information in official
sexual assault that was recorded in the information system. Our documents and records from arrests of sexual offenders (such
data analysis revealed that approximately 55–60% of the samples as demographic variables, related criminal records, and victims).
in two groups had prior criminal records of any type, and 82–85% The scale contains ten items, and a higher score represents a
had two or more prior sexual assaults. The chi-square tests for higher risk of recidivism (Helmus et al., 2012). Harris et al.
these two variables indicated no significant differences, showing (2003) conducted a study on sexual offenders in Canada and
that the results of the group difference comparison research can found that Static-99 is moderately accurate (ROC = 0.71) in
provide reference. predicting sexual recidivism. Studies in other countries including
Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States reported an
ROC ranging from 0.73 to 0.76 (Sjöstedt and Långström, 2001;
Research Instruments Beech et al., 2002). Static-99 has been used in Taiwan. One of
Criminal Record Information research team member, Dr. Huang, already personally contacted
The official criminal record data provided by the Offense with one of author of Static-99 manual, Dr. Andrew Harris. We
Determination Table (i.e., criminal record files) of the “National had his agreement of translating it into Chinese and used in
Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Children-Juvenile some research reports (e.g., Chung and Hsu, 2008; Huang and
Protection Information System” included length of sentences, the Wu, 2012). Static-99 has been found good inter-rater reliability
criminal charge, and the personal criminal history of the sexual (kappa = 0.87 and 0.94) in Taiwan. All Static-99 was rated by
offenders. We focused on four types of offenses: sexual offenses, trained therapist who followed the manual of Static-99 coding
violent offenses, property offenses, and addiction, as categorized rules revised-2003 (Harris et al., 2003).
by Lussier et al. (2010). We therefore transcribed the criminal
record data by age at the time of offense and by the type of offense. Dynamic Risk Factors
The dynamic risk factors are psychological markers that may
related to recidivism. Those items also included the database
TABLE 1 | Demographic characteristics of the samples. system, they included two risk assessments: stable dynamic
risk factors and acute dynamic risk factors. These scales were
Data pool of onset group Data pool for group
(n = 3,750) comparison (n = 819) developed by Shen (2006) based on the above concept of
etiological model of risk (Beech and Ward, 2004) and relevant
Age (SD) 37.91 (13.47) 38.89 (13.72) researches of dynamic risk assessment (Hanson and Harris, 2000;
average years of follow-up1 8.68 8.98 Thornton, 2002). This risk scale could divide into four major
n (%) n (%) constructs: sexual self-regulation, offense supportive cognitions,
Any pre-conviction level of interpersonal functioning, and general self-regulation.
Yes 1661 (44.29) 327 (39.93) All the risk assessment completed by trained therapist, they
No 2089 (55.71) 492 (60.07) interviewed offender with index sexual offense and then follow
Sexual offense ≥ 2 manual compiled by Shen to rate each item. Dynamic risk items
Yes 548 (14.61) 146 (17.83)
of scale could rate into three different certainty levels: 0 for no any
no 3202 (85.39) 673 (82.17)
signs of it, 1 for not so clear signs of it, and 2 for showing clear
The official criminal records could be traced back to first offense. signs of it. Two risk assessments use the same certainty level to

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

code, however, in the acute dynamic risk factors were according Data Analysis
to any available information about sex offender within 1 month Researchers interested in essential difference in onset typology
recently, but stable dynamic risk factors were retrospective for 3 of sexual offenders, therefore we use one-way ANOVA to
to 6 months while assessment. In a later study, Shen indicated do group comparison with offense-related variables, include
that the internal consistency coefficients of the two scales were, prior any offense records, index offense information, sexual
respectively, 0.73 and 0.82; the 2-month test-retest reliability of specialization, four areas of psychological markers, and
the stable dynamic risk factors ranged from 0.49 to 0.83, whereas developmental adversities.
the test-retest reliability of the acute dynamic risk factors ranged
from 0.47 to 0.69. Both scales also had good inter-rater reliability
(correlation ranging from 0.48 to 0.81) (Shen, 2006). We also RESULTS
included dynamic risk factors as one of the comparison variables
of the different onset typologies. All the items of dynamic risk Based on the criminal charge of the first offenses in the official
factors (acute and stable) refers to Appendix I. criminal records, we divided the first offenses of the sexual
offenders into four different onset typologies and then conducted
Developmental Adversity one-way ANOVAs and chi-square tests using SPSS. The results
In this database system, they also included four items of are displayed in Table 2 through 5 and present the differences
developmental variables that related to risk of future re-offense, among the typologies in the various variables and the criminal
the trained therapist evaluated personal history of sexual offender specialization index.
throughout risk assessment. Items of developmental adversity The selected data in this study mainly originated from sexual
included: Any childhood sexual victimization (under 12 years offenses. As shown in Table 2, a sexual assault was the most
old), poor family relationship, maladaptive in school, and any common onset offense for the sexual offenders (nearly 60%),
conduct problems under 18. All items rated as yes (1) / no (0). followed by property offenses (around 15%), violent offenses
(around 10%), and finally, addiction.
Criminal Specialization Index
To understand whether the criminal careers of sexual offenders Group Comparison Regarding Criminal
converge or change, we referred to the method proposed by Specialization
Harris (2012) to calculate criminal specialization and compared The analysis of specialization in sexual offending in the various
whether the criminal paths of different onset typologies led onset typologies in Table 3 shows that the number and
toward specialization or versatility. Based on the algorithm proportion of those in the sexual onset offending group (i.e., those
developed by Harris, two types of specialization indices can be whose first onset offense was a sexual assault) who continued
derived for group comparison: the specialization threshold (ST), focusing on sexual offending later on were significantly higher
which is the number of crimes in a certain category committed by than those in the other onset typologies. Specifically, over 20%
an offender divided by the total number of crimes committed, and of those in the sexual onset offending group focused most of their
specialization (with ST > 50% as the demarcation point), which, crimes on sexual offending; their ST was a high 0.92. In contrast,
when the ST of a category of crimes is greater than 50%, indicates offenders whose onset offense was another type of crime were
that the offender tends to focus on said type of crime. much less likely to focus on sexual offending; their ST values

TABLE 2 | One-way ANOVA of different onset typology groups.

Variables Sex Violence Property Addiction F value

Number of offender (%) 488 (59.6) 78 (9.5) 121 (14.8) 37 (4.5)

Number of sexual offenses 1.39 (0.81) 1.04 (0.69) 1.31 (0.87) 0.89 (0.70) 4.92***
Age of first offense 31.65 (13.65) 26.90 (9.55) 26.63 (8.65) 25.8 (6.96) 6.24***
Intervals of any offense (years) 3.12 (2.51) 3.05 (1.42) 3.02 (1.47) 2.86 (1.42) 9.87***
Stable dynamic risk factor scores 4.21 (2.19) 4.72 (2.40) 4.99 (2.00) 4.22 (2.32) 3.19**
Acute dynamic risk factor scores 2.69 (1.82) 2.97 (2.14) 3.39 (1.86) 2.73 (1.85) 3.34**
Static-99 2.51 (1.30) 3.05 (1.42) 3.02 (1.47) 2.86 (1.42) 4.98***
Victim types
Adult female 125 (25.6) 32 (41.0) 47 (38.8) 19 (51.4)
Intra-family child 23 (4.7) 3 (3.8) 6 (5.0) 1 (2.7)
Extra-family child 16 (3.3) 3 (3.8) 2 (1.7) 2 (5.4)
Adolescence1 260 (53.3) 30 (38.5) 51 (42.1) 11 (29.7)
Gang rape 5 (1.0) 2 (2.6) 0 0
others 1 (0.2) 0 1 (0.8) 0
1 Adolescence means victim age between age 12 to 18.
**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

ranged from 0.28 to 0.36. Next, we analyzed the specialization in the other three typologies. This could be due to the fact
on violent offenses among the various onset typologies and that this psychological marker item presents a uniqueness of
discovered that a violent crime as the onset offense exerted a sexual offending. For instance, most sexual offenders commit
substantial impact on the subsequent specialization. We further sexual assaults alone and regard them as personal secrets. Unlike
found that the average ST of violent crime in the violent onset other types of crime, sexual offenders are less likely to be
offending group (i.e., those whose first onset offense was a violent goaded into offending, and this corresponds to the specialization
assault) reached 0.5 and that nearly 20% had an ST greater than phenomenon in the sexual onset offending group in Table 3.
50%. In comparison, the ST values of the other onset typologies In general self-regulation problems, three variables in Static-
were less than 0.05, thereby revealing that a violent crime as the 99 reached the level of significance: non-sexual violence during
onset offense has a significant impact on subsequent criminal sexual offense, prior conviction for non-sexual violence, and
behavior, which should not be underestimated. We then analyzed age under 25 years old. The first two are associated with the
the specialization of property offenses and addiction, which led violent behavior of an offender, and the scores in the violent
to similar results between the two. With property offenses or onset offending group were much higher than those in the other
addiction, the type of the onset offense exerted a significant three typologies, the lowest of which occurred in the sexual
influence on the types of the subsequent offenses. ST values that onset offending group. The proportion of early onset was also
are greater than 0.5 present these specialization tendencies, and the highest. In stable dynamic risk factors, scores for personal
20 to 30% of each onset typology had ST values greater than 50%, self-regulation traits in the sexual onset offending group were
which was statistically more than the proportions in the other significantly lower than those in the other three typologies (a
onset typologies. higher score indicates poorer self-regulation). In other words,
those in the sexual onset offending group were not obviously
impulsive because of fewer violent offense records.
Group Comparison Regarding
Psychological Markers Differences Between Onset Typologies in
In the analysis above, we observed variations in the criminal
careers of sexual offenders with different onset typologies. Development Adversity
We further explored whether specialization and versatility can The theoretical models discussed by Marshall and Barbaree
also reflect differences in four common psychological markers (1990); Ward and Beech (2006), and Smallbone and Cale
among sexual offenders. These psychological markers include the (2015) regarding sexual offenders all mentioned that negative
following: sexual self-regulation, offense supportive cognitions, experiences during a sexual offender’s early growth and
the level of interpersonal functioning, and general self-regulation development stages influence their subsequent sexual criminal
problems. Ward and Beech (2006) posited that personal career. We therefore attempted to analyze and compare
vulnerabilities caused by certain growth and development the developmental adversity variables of the different onset
experiences in sexual offenders are closely related to subsequent typologies in Table 5. We found significant differences in two
recidivism and indicated that corresponding variables can be items: poor relationships in family and experience of poor
identified using scales such as Static-99 and dynamic risk factors. adaptation to school in the past. The property onset offending
Using the data in Table 4, we can examine the differences group had the highest proportion of offenders with the “poor
among the onset typologies in psychological markers. In sexual relationships in family” item (approximately 35%), followed by
self-regulation, significant group differences only existed for the the violent and sexual onset offending groups (approximately
victim being a stranger and for the sentencing date of prior 24%), and lastly the addiction onset offending group. However,
convictions (the number of prior convictions ≥ 3). Further the “maladaptive in school” item presented a different trend:
observations revealed that the sexual onset offending group the violent onset offending group had the highest proportion
was the lowest for both of these items; only about one out of of offenders (nearly 45%), followed by the property onset
every four offenders in the sexual onset offending group chose offending group.
a stranger as their victim, and they also had a lower number of
priors. This means that offenders in the sexual onset offending
group tended to sexually assault those they knew, which also DISCUSSION
meant a greater chance of being exposed, arrested, and sentenced
to prison. It is likely that the undesirable experience of being This study attempted to determine whether the onset typology
punished by the law also reduced the number of offenses that of sexual offenders reflects differences in the nature of sexual
they committed. In terms of offense-supportive cognitions, we offending using the perspectives of Thakker and Ward (2015)
found that none of the items for this psychological marker and Farrington (2003) regarding criminal careers. We utilized
reached the level of significance. This may indicate that no crime specialization and versatility, four risk factors, and growth
matter what the first offense was, once the offenders began sexual and development experience to analyze the differences among
offending, something inside them compelled them to commit a sexual offenders with different onset typologies. The results
sexual assault. In the level of interpersonal functioning, only poor confirmed that the onset typology of sexual offenders influences
social influence presented significant differences, with scores in their criminal specialization, and some of the risk factors and
the sexual onset offending group being much lower than those growth and development experiences also varied with the onset

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

TABLE 3 | Between onset-groups comparison with sexual specialization.

Type of Specialization Threshold Sex Violence Property Addiction χ2 (2) F value

For sexual crime

no. ST > 50% (%) 114 (23.4%) 3 (3.8%) 10 (8.3%) 0 547.98***
ST scores 0.92 (0.18) 0.32 (0.20) 0.36 (0.19) 0.28 (0.20) 464.61***
For violent crime
no. ST > 50% (%) 1 (0.2%) 15 (19.2%) 2 (1.7%) 0 159.20***
ST scores 0.02 (0.09) 0.5 (0.21) 0.05 (0.12) 0.02 (0.07) 303.56***
For property crime
no. ST > 50% (%) 2 (0.4%) 1 (1.3%) 27 (22.3%) 1 (2.7%) 171.97***
STscores 0.03 (0.10) 0.07 (0.15) 0.53 (0.21) 0.05 (0.14) 352.68***
For addiction
no. ST > 50% (%) 0 3 (3.8%) 0 12 (32.4%) 294.71***
ST scores 0.01 (0.05) 0.05 (0.15) 0.02 (0.07) 0.59 (0.24) 397.74***

The “specialization threshold” (ST) scores was proposed by Harris (2012), and is calculated by dividing the total number of charges for that type of offense (e.g., sexual)
by the total number of charges for all offenses.
The 50% ST is commonly used to indicate the extent to an offender has a specialized criminal career.
***p < 0.001.

TABLE 4 | Onset-group comparison with four risk domains (psychological markers).

Risk domains sex violence property addiction χ2 (2) F value

Sexual self-regulation
Static-99
Any convictions for non-contact sex offenses 0.02 (0.16) 0.01 (0.11) 0.01 (0.09) 0.03 (0.16) 2.02
Unrelated victim 0.84 (0.37) 0.82 (0.39) 0.89 (0.31) 0.81 (0.40) 4.35
Any Stranger victims 0.25 (0.43) 0.31 (0.47) 0.37 (0.49) 0.35 (0.48) 10.96*
Any male victims 0.02 (0.16) 0.03 (0.16) 0.03 (0.18) 0.0 (0.00) 3.86
Prior sex offenses 0.17 (0.43) 0.06 (0.25) 0.19 (0.43) 0.11 (0.31) 1.30
Prior sentencing dates 0.03 (0.18) 0.27 (0.45) 0.23 (0.42) 0.35 (0.48) 91.28***
Stable dynamic risk scale
Sexual self-regulation 0.45 (0.57) 0.46 (0.60) 0.55 (0.56) 0.3 (0.52) 1.39

Pro-offending attitudes
Stable dynamic risk scale
Attitude toward sexual violence 0.59 (0.63) 0.59 (0.65) 0.6 (0.61) 0.54 (0.69) 0.32

Social-affective functioning
Static-99
Single 0.66 (0.47) 0.59 (0.5) 0.65 (0.48) 0.57 (0.5) 7.75
Stable dynamic risk scale
Negative social influences 0.32 (0.53) 0.58 (0.75) 0.45 (0.62) 0.43 (0.65) 3.52**
Intimacy deficits 1.26 (0.79) 1.31 (0.83) 1.26 (0.77) 1.27 (0.80) 0.23
Social attachment problem 0.56 (0.61) 0.63 (0.58) 0.72 (0.66) 0.46 (0.56) 1.94

Problem of general self-regulation

Static-99
Index nonsexual violence 0.21 (0.41) 0.40 (0.49) 0.28 (0.45) 0.32 (0.48) 16.03**
Prior nonsexual violence 0.09 (0.29) 0.55 (0.50) 0.26 (0.44) 0.27 (0.45) 107.96***
Young 0.22 (0.41) 0.01 (0.11) 0.09 (0.29) 0.05 (0.23) 31.94***
Stable dynamic risk scale
Self-regulation tendency 0.93 (0.6) 1.03 (0.66) 1.22 (0.52) 1.11 (0.61) 5.84***
Cooperation with monitoring 0.09 (0.32) 0.13 (0.41) 0.18 (0.50) 0.11 (0.31) 1.41

* p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

TABLE 5 | Onset-group comparison with experiences of developmental adversity.

Experiences of developmental adversity Sex Violence Property Addiction χ2 (2)

Any childhood sexual victimization 9 (1.8) 0 3 (2.5) 0 4.47

Poor family relationship 119 (24.4) 18 (23.1) 43 (35.5) 5 (13.5) 13.25*
Maladaptive in school 117 (24.0) 35 (44.9) 43 (35.5) 7 (18.9) 20.65***
Any conduct problems under 18 23 (4.7) 6 (7.7) 9 (7.4) 3 (8.1) 3.00

*p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.

typology. Some of our results support existing theories regarding Smallbone and Cale (2015) and the descriptive models used by
sexual offending and are worth deliberating. Malamuth (2003) and Hudson and Ward, the research results
For the four risk factors, we only used Static-99 and a stable and clinical experiences collected by researchers all indicate
dynamic risk factor scale to analyze the differences among that significant events during the growth and development of
the sexual offenders with different onset typologies, and these sexual offenders influence their subsequent life trajectories and
methods were enough to elucidate some issues with proportional gradually lead them toward sexual offending. However, most
distribution. For instance, though weak, only one observed existing studies have focused on the development experiences,
variable for offense-supportive cognitions could be analyzed, background factors, or distal factors on parental care and abuse
and consequently, the results could not show differences among experiences during childhood and have rarely paid attention to
the different onset typologies. This is a limitation of using the influence of criminal onset. Even if the influence of the
samples from a database because the results can only be analyzed criminal onset was discussed, most discussions focused on the
with a limited amount of information. Future studies involving correlation between age of onset and recidivism.
psychological markers may improve on this by strengthening Those results of developmental adversity support the views of
measured content. Those results of developmental adversity Marshall and Barbaree (1990) and Smallbone and Cale (2015)
presented by the results above, it is worth considering that regarding the integrated theory of sexual offending, in that
regarding the sexual onset offending group, the key influence was problems with early attachment can gradually evolve into poor
the onset offense and the certain degree of fixation that it created social control and are associated with the risk of sexual offending.
in the learning experience of the offender. For instance, the We found that a sizeable proportion of sexual offenders had
experience and feelings of committing a sexual assault influenced problems with their familial relationships and adaptation to
the evolution of future criminal behavior, and although only a school; thus, when they later escaped the constraints of social
little more than 20% of offenders specialized in sexual offending, control, the likelihood of them committing a crime increased.
their tendency to fixate on sexual offending is still a concern for One matter worthy of discussion is the sexually assaulted during
society at large. In another aspect, the analysis above indicates childhood item. The proportion of offenders with this experience
that offenders with violent offenses, property offenses, and was low in every group. There have been theories and notions
addiction presented the same specialization tendencies. From of the effects of sexual abuse in childhood in previous studies,
another perspective though, only 20 to 30% of these offenders indicating that those who were victims of sexual assaults as a
will specialize in their respective offenses. In other words, no child grow up to be offenders themselves, which is included in the
matter what the onset offense is, about two-thirds of offenders’ etiological model proposed by Beech and Ward (2004). However,
progress toward a versatile criminal career in the future. Thus, our analyses found that other development trajectories might
the results of this study indicate that to a certain degree, the onset require attention instead because the proportions of those are
typology of offenders will determine the development trajectories higher than those who were victimized as children. Moreover,
of their future criminal careers and leads them to specialize in a what stimulates the onset of sexual offending may not necessarily
certain type of crime. However, criminal versatility is still an issue be associated with being sexually assaulted as a child; for instance,
that requires attention. Based on these study results, it is worth experiences of improper physical and mental development such
deliberating how current correction and treatment policies can as attachment issues, physical abuse, or lack of care may all give
make arrangements for prison inmates who will return to society. rise to psychological vulnerability that gradually puts an offender
This study explored two criminal career characteristics: the on the path to a sexual criminal career.
onset typology and criminal specialization. Piquero et al. (2003) Ward and Beech (2006) and Smallbone and Cale (2015)
and Farrington (2003) compiled seven characteristics, such as emphasized the mutual influence between the biological and
desistance, career duration, and age of onset. Future studies can environmental factors of offenders and their criminal behavior.
consider adding other criminal career characteristics to analyze In other words, the criminal onset of a sexual offender is not
the overall changes in the criminal trajectories of sexual offenders merely a marker of a criminal record (prior conviction); it may
and identify the factors associated with desistance so as to obtain also reappear and be influenced by biological and environmental
a more comprehensive understanding of the criminal careers factors, thereby contributing to the next offense. The analysis of
of sexual offenders. Despite the many earlier theories regarding crime specialization and versatility in this study revealed another
sexual offending, such as the integrated theory employed by matter worth deliberating: that the population of sexual offenders
Marshall and Barbaree (1990); Ward and Beech (2006), and consists of sexual offenders with various characteristics. Only by

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Huang et al. Onset Typology and Specialization

understanding these essential differences can the right therapy consent to participate in this study was provided by the
plans be made to help reduce future rates of sexual recidivism. participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual
made available by the authors, without undue reservation. contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

ETHICS STATEMENT FUNDING

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and The project described was supported by funds from the
approved by the Institutional Review Board of Fu Jen Catholic Department of Mental and Oral Health of the Ministry of Health
University (project approval no. C103152). Written informed and Welfare, Taiwan (project case no. M04B3252).

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children. Sex. Abuse 16, 285–298. doi: 10.1177/10790632040160 Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
0403 absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a
Thakker, J., and Ward, T. (2015). “Criminal career features in theories of sexual potential conflict of interest.
offending,” in Sex Offenders: A Criminal Career Approach, eds A. Blokland
and P. Lussier (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd), 23–42. doi: 10.1002/ Publisher’s Note: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors
9781118314630.ch2 and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of
Thornton, D. (2002). Constructing and testing a framework for dynamic the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in
risk assessment. Sex. Abuse 14, 139–197. doi: 10.1177/10790632020140 this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
0205 endorsed by the publisher.
Ward, T., and Beech, A. R. (2006). An integrated theory of sexual offending.
Aggression Violent Behav. 11, 44–63. Copyright © 2022 Huang, Shen and Tung. This is an open-access article distributed
Ward, T., and Hudson, S. M. (1998). A model of the relapse process under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use,
in sexual offenders. J. Interpersonal Violence 13, 400–425. doi: 10.1177/ distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original
107906320601800405 author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication
Ward, T., and Hudson, S. M. (2000). “A self-regulation model of relapse in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use,
prevention,” in Remaking Relapse Prevention With Sex Offenders: A Sourcebook, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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APPENDIX I
Stable Dynamic Risk Factors
(coding rules: 0 = no any signs, 1 = not so clear signs, and 2 = show clear signs)
1. Any negative social influence
2. Any intimacy deficits
3. Any social attachment deficits
4. Any problem of sexual self-regulation
5. Any pro-offending attitudes about sex
6. Non-compliance to monitoring
7. Any problem of self-management
→sum of item1 to item7 as a stable risk potential.
Acute Dynamic Risk Factors
(coding rules: 0 = no any signs, 1 = not so clear signs, and 2 = show clear signs)
1. Any opportunity of victim access
2. Emotion dysregulation
3. disrupt social support or network
4. Hostility to others
5. Alcohol or drug abuse
6. Sexual preoccupation
7. reject monitoring
8. Any other situations related to re-offense
→sum of item1 to item8 as an acute risk level.

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