Assessing Components of Empathy in Sex- Offenders with Intellectual Disabilities

Background Because of a lack of research investigating empathy in sex offenders with intellectual disabilities, this study explored empathy in sex offenders and non-offenders with intellectual disabilities. Specific aims were to explore differences between these groups on measures of the components of empathy. Methods The scores of 21 sex-offenders and 21 non-offenders with intellectual disabilities, matched by age, gender and IQ, were compared on the Test of Emotional Perception. Results No differences were found between the two groups across the components of empathy. However, sex offenders who had received treatment performed better on tasks of emotion recognition, emotion replication and response decision than the non-offenders. Conclusions Further research is needed to understand empathy in sex offenders with intellectual disabilities before any recommendations can be made regarding treatment programmes.