Criterion-related validity of a phallometric test for paraphilic rape and sadism

Eight men admitting to sadistic fantasies or urges (fantasizers), 7 sadistic rapists (sadists), 14 nonsadistic rapists, 31 courtship-disordered men (men displaying exhibitionism, voyeurism, frotteurism, or a combination of these paraphilias), and 20 community controls were compared on their relative phallometric responses to stimuli depicting rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence. This study extended previous research by including a group of men who admitted to having sadistic fantasies or urges, in contrast to rapists who are likely to deny any such interests because of possible legal or social sanctions, and by including a large comparison group of men with a paraphilia other than sadism. Criterion-related validity was greater after combining the sadistic and nonsadistic rapists: fantasizers, sadists, and rapists did not differ from each other; fantasizers differed from community controls in their relative responses to rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence; rapists differed from community controls in their relative responses to violent rape and nonsexual violence; and courtship-disordered men differed from community controls in their relative responses to nonsexual violence.