Nunes Kevin L, Pedneault Chloe I, Filleter W Eric, Maimone Sacha, Blank Carolyn, Atlas Maya
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Sex Abuse. 2019 Mar;31(2):220-236. doi: 10.1177/1079063217729156. Epub 2017 Sep 5.
Identifying causes of sexual offending is the foundation of effective and efficient assessment, intervention, and policy aimed at reducing sexual offending. However, studies vary in methodological rigor and the inferences they support, and there are differences of opinion about the conclusions that can be drawn from ambiguous evidence. To explore how researchers in this area interpret the available empirical evidence, we asked authors of articles published in relevant specialized journals to identify (a) an important factor that may lead to sexual offending, (b) a study providing evidence of a relationship between that factor and sexual offending, and (c) the inferences supported by that study. Many participants seemed to endorse causal interpretations and conclusions that went beyond the methodological rigor of the study they identified. Our findings suggest that some researchers may not be adequately considering methodological issues when making inferences about the causes of sexual offending. Although it is difficult to conduct research in this area and all research designs can provide valuable information, sensitivity to the limits methodology places on inferences is important for the sake of accuracy and integrity, and to stimulate more informative research. We propose that increasing attention to methodology in the research community through better training and standards will advance scientific knowledge about the causes of sexual offending, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of practice and policy.
识别性犯罪的成因是旨在减少性犯罪的有效且高效评估、干预及政策的基础。然而，各项研究在方法的严谨性及其所支持的推论方面存在差异，对于从模糊证据中得出的结论也存在意见分歧。为探究该领域的研究人员如何解读现有的实证证据，我们邀请了相关专业期刊上发表文章的作者来确定：（a）一个可能导致性犯罪的重要因素；（b）一项提供该因素与性犯罪之间关系证据的研究；以及（c）该研究所支持的推论。许多参与者似乎认可那些超出他们所确定研究方法严谨性的因果解释和结论。我们的研究结果表明，一些研究人员在对性犯罪成因进行推论时，可能没有充分考虑方法学问题。尽管在该领域开展研究存在困难，且所有研究设计都能提供有价值的信息，但为了准确性和完整性，并推动更具信息量的研究，认识到方法学对推论的限制很重要。我们建议，通过更好的培训和标准，让研究界更多地关注方法学，这将推进关于性犯罪成因的科学知识，并提高实践和政策的有效性及效率。
