Construction of Self-Report Indigenous Measure: The Pedophilic Interest Scale for Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrators in Pakistan

Rukhsana Kausar1 & Rabia Iftikhar2

https://doi.org/10.62271/pjc.16.3.547.563

Abstract
Most sexual offences elicit social opprobrium, but child sexual abuse is typically considered to be the most reprehensible. The pedophile is regarded as a social pariah, the extreme embodiment of deviant sexuality. Pedophilia is threatening for all over the world but preying on children in third word countries is more rampant and devastating. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, medical professionals need to comprehend pedophilia, its prevalence, and the traits of pedophiles. Current study was carried out to construct an indigenous tool to assess the pedophilic interest in child sex offenders. Sample comprised of 210 male sex offenders of age 18 years above. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from different district jails of Punjab. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed by using orthogonal rotation (varimax) on 22 item through SPSS as factor extraction technique. Convergent and discriminant validity was examined among 50 participants, using Pearson product-moment correlations of raw scores from the Quality of life scale (QoL) and Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI) for the valid examinees. The SSPI scale positively correlated with PIS (r= .40, p < .01). The QoL scale correlated negatively with PIS (r =.52, p < .01). Furthermore, Cronbach Alpha (α) reliability coefficient of the 16 item Pedophilic Interest Scale (PSI) had an excellent internal consistency (16 items; α =. 94). Thus, current indigenous scale can be used in with other assessment measures for assessing pedophilic interest in the forensic population. This scale will provide vital resources for future academics and practitioners working in the field of mental health.

Keywords: Pedophilia, Child Sexual Abuse, Paraphilic disorder.