Viewing time as a measure of sexual deviance
Sexual deviance is one of the most important predictors of recidivism by sexual offenders. However, determining sexual interests remains a challenge as the individuals being assessed may be reluctant to reveal their preferences. Innovative measures based on attention as determined by viewing time (VT) suggest promising new methods for the assessment of sexual interests. The objective of the present paper is to introduce the VT measure and carry out a systematic review of studies evaluating this measure of sexual interests with sexual offenders. Results are presented according to three main outcomes : the discriminant validity of the VT, the comparison of this discriminant validity with other measures of sexual interests, and the predictive validity of VT for sexual offenses. Most studies confirm that VT provides discriminant validity related to the sex of the victim. This discriminant validity is comparable to other more intrusive measures, such as penile plethysmography. VT is thus an appropriate innovative metric for the assessment of sexual offenders.