[Personality and therapy motivation of child sexual offenders]

Personality and therapy motivation of child sexual offenders Objective: This pilot study examined the interrelationship between pathological narcissism, impaired personality organization, sexual delinquency, and therapy motivation from a psychoanalytic perspective in a sample of child sexual offenders.

42 forensic outpatients who had committed child sexual offenses completed a set of self-reports (PNI, IPO-16, ADP-IV, FPTM).

We found a positive correlation between pathological narcissism and impairment of personality organization. Though the levels of vulnerable narcissism were above average, no pathology of personality organization was present in this sample. Results also did not reveal a negative correlation between the severity of personality impairment and therapy motivation. The sample showed diverging results regarding correlations between narcissism and facets of therapy motivation: Higher levels of narcissism were associated with increased feelings of suffering but also denial of any need for help.

In this sample, a restrictive diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorders according toDSMand ICD criteria seems to underestimate their prevalence. The construct of therapy motivation should be adjusted to outpatient forensic treatment.