Brain Dysfunction in Sex Offenders

Since the turn of the century, brain impairment has been linked to the pathogenesis of sexual disorders and aberrations. More recent clinical and experimental evidence using traditional neurodiagnostic techniques has underscored the connection bewteen brain pathology and sexual deviance. However, methods traditionally used to determine brain damage are often not applied in studying sex offenders; some methods fail to detect subtle evidence of brain impairment. This study sought to establish the connection between disordered sexuality and brain impairment by using newly developed techniques of neuropsychological investigation. Results indicate that a major portion of the sex offenders in the sample (n = 35) show impaired brain functioning on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. Violent and non-violent manifestations of disordered sexuality were found to be satistically linked to differential deficits in brain functioning. It is concluded that personality variables alone have been unable to account for aberrations in sexuality or the disinhibition associated with sex offenses. Undetected insults to, or compromises by, the brain in early childhood may be related to disruptions in the development of personality.