Title of article :
Mindreading abilities in sexual offenders: An analysis of theory of mind processes
Author/Authors :
Castellino، نويسنده , , Nicoletta and Bosco، نويسنده , , Francesca M. and Marshall، نويسنده , , William L. and Marshall، نويسنده , , Liam E. and Veglia، نويسنده , , Fabio، نويسنده ,
Issue Information :
روزنامه با شماره پیاپی سال 2011
Abstract :
The paper aims to assess the theory of mind (ToM) of sexual offenders. We administered to 21 sexual offenders and to 21 nonoffenders two classical first- and second-order ToM tasks, a selection of six Strange Stories, and a semi-structured interview, the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s), which provides a multi-dimensional evaluation of ToM, investigating first- vs. third-person and egocentric vs. allocentric perspectives. Results show that sexual offenders performed worse than controls on second-order ToM tasks, on Strange Stories and on each of the Th.o.m.a.s dimensions, whereas they did as well as the control group on first-order ToM tasks. A detailed analysis of participants’ performance on Th.o.m.a.s. showed that sex offenders performed worse on the third-person than on the first-person ToM scale, and worse on the allocentric than on the egocentric perspective; these findings did not apply to the controls. Implications for future research and treatment are discussed.
Keywords :
Mindreading , Treatment , theory of mind , Sexual offenders , Allocentric perspective , First-person , Third-person , Egocentric perspective
Journal title :
Consciousness and Cognition
Journal title :
Consciousness and Cognition