Early this month (2-5th Nov), Prof. Todd Hogue and Dr Ross Bartels, along with research assistant Darragh McCashin and FCRG research associate Dr Craig Harper, presented at the 2016 conference of the Association of the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) in Orlando, FL, (USA).
Todd spoke about the importance of attitudes towards sexual offenders in the context of clinical practice.
Ross’s presented twos talks: (1) on the relationship between ‘Rich Fantasy Life’ (i.e. fantasy proneness, dissociation, & vivid mental imagery) and the use of aggressive sexual fantasies in males; and (2) on an interview study examining implicit theories of child sexual exploitation material users.
Darragh presented the work of PhD student Danielle Kettlebourough (as she unfortunately could not attend). The topic concerned desistance and protective factors associated with child sexual exploitation material offending.
Craig presented two talks, both related to the psychological factors that influence attitudes towards sexual offenders. Craig also took part in an invited discussion panel with other notable figures in the field (see image) pertaining to the 2014 documentary entitled ‘Pervert Park’
It was an extremely good ATSA this year! Not only was it set in DisneyWorld (!) – with lovely weather – but the keynote talks were cutting-edge and very thought-provoking, and the breakout sessions were varied and packed with useful new ideas, findings, and extensions of current understandings related to the field of sexual offending. The FCRG team each received fantastic feedback for their presentations, fostered new research collaborations, and furthered existing ones.
The team are now looking to next year’s ATSA conference in Kansas City!!