A Comparative Study of Adult Rapist's Attachment Styles and its Domains with Non Rapists

We examined the attachment styles and its domains in a sample of rapists. 34 rapists were randomly selected among a larger group of rapists who were in captivity in Central Prison of Mashhad City and were compared with 34 non rapist individuals (controls); all participants were matched on age, marital status, occupation status and literacy level. The control participants were selected based on their GSI scores on SCL-90-R)GSI 1 (. Data gathered through Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) and were analyzed by dependent t-tests and chi-square tests (X2). Results showed that, compared with the controls, rapists scored significantly higher on attachment anxiety. The two groups did not differ on attachment avoidant. Moreover, rapists showed a higher ration on insecure attachment styles than the controls. Therefore, rapists have a high level of attachment anxiety that may lead them toward committing sexual crimes, sexual offensive behaviors, and rape.