Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

6 ———Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances, Evaluation of in Capital Cases

been found to be unrelated to measures of intelligence,

to both long- and short-term memory, to discourse pat-

terns when individuals are interviewed on other topics,

to interviewer effects, and to social desirability. Meta-

analytic work has also supported the use of the AAI

across several populations, including high-risk groups.

Tania Stirpe and colleagues employed the AAI with

various groups of sexual offenders, examining five groups

of subjects: extrafamilial child molesters (child molesters),

intrafamilial child molesters (incest offenders), and sexual

offenders against adult females (rapists) and two nonsex-

ual offender comparison groups (violent and nonviolent).

In addition, groups were compared with reference to nor-

mative data on the AAI. Results indicated that the major-

ity of sexual offenders were insecure in their state of mind

regarding attachment, representing a marked difference

from normative samples. Although insecurity of attach-

ment was common to all groups of offenders rather than

specific to sexual offenders, there were important differ-

ences between groups with regard to the type of insecurity.

Most notable were the child molesters, who were much

more likely to be Preoccupied in their state of mind regard-

ing attachment. Rapists, violent offenders, and, to a lesser

degree, incest offenders, were more likely to have a Dis-

missing state of mind regarding attachment. Although still

most likely to be judged Dismissing, nonviolent offenders

were comparatively more likely than the other groups to

be Secure. There were no differences between groups

when Unresolved and Cannot Classify AAI classifications

were considered. These findings provide evidence for the

specificity of insecure attachment with regard to sexual

offending, over and above its possibly more general influ-

ence on criminality.

Implications and Areas

for Future Study

Research using the AAI has implications for the assess-

ment and treatment of sexual offenders. Identifying the

state of mind regarding attachment, together with its

associated beliefs and interpersonal strategies, may

provide valuable insight into the motivational strategies

underlying offenses. As S. W. Smallbone and associates

have argued, the intimacy problems faced by an indi-

vidual whose offending is characterized by a devaluing

of attachment are very different from those faced by

one who fears rejection and offends in an attempt to

cultivate a “relationship” with the victim.

Research suggests that early insecure attachment

experiences may place some men at risk for later

offending. More specifically, some have suggested

that these early experiences may contribute to sexual

offending within a particular interpersonal context.

Further research is required; however, the current

empirical literature represents an important step in

incorporating attachment theory into the etiology of

sexual offending and in acknowledging that sexual

offending may be constructively understood in terms

of the relationship context in which it takes place. The

AAI is the “gold standard” in attachment research but

has rarely been used with forensic populations.

Tania Stirpe, Jeffrey Abracen,

and Janice Picheca

See also Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI); Sex

Offender Assessment; Sex Offender Treatment

Further Readings

Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1998). Adult attachment rating

and classification systems: Adult attachment coding

manual. Unpublished scoring manual, Department of

Psychology, University of California, Berkeley.

Smallbone, S., & Dadds, M. (1998). Childhood attachment and

adult attachment in incarcerated adult male sex offenders.

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13(5), 555–573.

Stirpe, T., Abracen, J., Stermac, L., & Wilson, R. (2006).

Sexual offenders’ state-of-mind regarding childhood

attachment: A controlled investigation. Sexual Abuse:

A Journal of Research and Treatment, 18,289–302.

van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J.

(1996). Attachment representations in mothers, fathers,

adolescents, and clinical groups: A meta-analytic search

for normative data. Journal of Consulting and Clinical

Psychology, 64(1), 8–21.

Ward, T., Hudson, S., Marshall, W., & Siegert, R. (1995).

Attachment style and intimacy deficits in sexual

offenders: A theoretical framework. Sexual Abuse:

A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7(4), 317–335.

AGGRAVATING ANDMITIGATING

CIRCUMSTANCES, EVALUATION OF

IN CAPITALCASES

If a defendant is found guilty of a capital crime, the tri-

ers of fact are called on to weigh the significance of the

aggravating and mitigating factors of the case and to

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