Journal of Sexual Aggression

(November 2009), Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 289
303

Entitled to sex: Attitudes of sexual offenders

Anna Elizabeth Pemberton1 & Helen Catherine Wakeling2*
1

HM Prison Service, London, UK & 2NONS, Interventions and Substance Misuse Group, Room

130 Abell House, John Islip Street, London SW1P 4LH, UK

Abstract Previous research has indicated that sexual entitlement may be significant within the
offending behaviour of sexual offenders, particularly for rapists, sexual murderers and incest offenders.
The purpose of this study was to produce a descriptive analysis of sexual entitlement thinking in the
build-up to sexual offending in rapists, sexual murderers, intrafamilial and extrafamilial child offenders.
Both deductive and inductive content analyses were used to identify distinct categories within the written
sexual entitlement thoughts of incarcerated offenders at the time of offending, using documentation
produced during participation in a cognitive
behavioural treatment programme. Sexual entitlement
thoughts were present for each type of offender examined and the analyses resulted in six categories of
entitlement thoughts, two of which appear to be new categories not identified in previous research.
Similarities and differences between offender types in their entitlement beliefs are also discussed. The
present findings expand our understanding of sexual entitlement, and we hope they will aid professionals
in both the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders.
Keywords Sexual entitlement; content analysis; sexual offenders

Introduction
Sexual entitlement, or believing one has a right to sex, is considered to be a particular belief
held by some men who sexually offend. It is generally thought to refer to an attitude that men
deserve sex because it is their birthright as a male, and something that they are entitled to take
from women or children. It has been defined as: A type of thinking in which the offender
considers that he is superior to, and more important than, others. Therefore, he sees himself
as being entitled to have sex when he wants from those who are less powerful/less important
than himself (Beech & Mann, 2002, p. 266). Sexual entitlement has been found to be
significant in the sexual offending of rapists in a study of dynamic (changeable) risk factors
which are related to future sexual re-offending (Hanson & Harris, 2000). The sexual
entitlement beliefs measured in this study included: everyone is entitled to sex and men
need sex more than women do. Due to the link between entitlement and sexual re-offending,
the authors believe that the notion of sexual entitlement warrants further investigation.
Sexual entitlement has been the specific focus of a number of research studies to date
(e.g. Hanson, Gizzarelli & Scott, 1994). Some of these studies make reference to entitlement
*Corresponding author: Helen Catherine Wakeling MSc, Senior Research Psychologist, NOMS, Interventions and
Substance Misuse Group, Room 130 Abell House, John Islip Street, London SW1P 4LH, UK. E-mail:
helen.wakeling@noms.gsi.gov.uk

ISSN 1355-2600 print/1742-6545 online # 2009 National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers
DOI: 10.1080/13552600903097212

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as one of a number of implicit theories underlying sexual offenders offence supportive

attitudes and behaviour (e.g. Beech, Ward & Fisher, 2006; Polaschek & Gannon, 2004).
Implicit theories can be described as general forms of dysfunctional thinking or schemas
which may predispose someone towards choosing sexual assault in various situations (Dean,
Mann, Milner & Maruna, 2007).
In their review of the implicit theories of sexual offending, Polaschek and Ward (2002)
identified entitlement as one of five offence-related schemas among rapists. These authors
examined a variety of attitude scales and research studies which had investigated the thinking
styles of rapists. The entitlement implicit theory involves the core idea that the offender is
superior to others and therefore deserves to have his needs met when and where he chooses. This
is seen as a general view, rather than being limited to sexual superiority and sexual needs. The
other four implicit theories identified were: male sex drive is uncontrollable; women are
unknowable; dangerous world; and women as sexual objects. Polaschek and Gannon (2004)
found evidence of all five of these implicit theories when examining interviews from a sample of
37 rapists, and entitlement was identified in 68% of offences. More recently, Beech et al. (2006)
examined interview data from a group of 41 rapists from the United Kingdom. The same five
implicit theories emerged, and entitlement was identified as the second most common implicit
theory.
Entitlement is also a relevant implicit theory associated with child offenders. Ward and
Keenan (1999) identified five implicit theories among child offenders, which included:
children as sexual objects; dangerous world; uncontrollability; nature of harm; and entitlement.
A study conducted by Marziano, Ward, Beech and Pattison (2006) identified these same five
implicit theories among a group of 22 child offenders.
Research which focuses exclusively upon the notion of entitlement has been conducted
on different types of sexual offenders, and provides more detailed information as to the nature
of this entitlement. Regarding rapists, those who offend within marital relationships tend to
view marriage as a licence to rape (Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985). Finkelhor and Yllo (1985)
conducted in-depth interviews with marital rapists and their victims, and documented how
similar sexual entitlement beliefs continue to exist today. A further study introduces the
notion of men viewing their wives as a form of property. Bergen (1996) interviewed women
who had been sexually abused by their husbands. She described how many men felt entitled to
their wives bodies and therefore did not consider that forced, unconsenting sex was rape.
For example, they questioned how a husband could rape his own wife when her body
belonged to him. Interestingly, some of the victims also appeared to reinforce their husbands
sexual entitlement beliefs, by blaming themselves in part for their husbands actions. Some
argue that this is evidence for a more widespread societal and cultural acceptance of rape
supportive beliefs which serve to blame the victim for being raped (Burt, 1980). Sexual
entitlement beliefs have also been documented in men who rape outside their relationships.
Scully (1990), for example, interviewed 114 convicted rapists in prison and found that many
held attitudes which appeared to reflect hostility and violence towards women, including
elements indicative of sexual entitlement.
There is relatively little research into the thinking styles of sexual murderers, but two recent
studies offer some support to the relevance of sexual entitlement thinking in these offenders.
Beech, Fisher and Ward (2005) interviewed 28 incarcerated murderers to test the hypothesis
that the five implicit theories identified for rapists by Polaschek and Ward (2002) were also
relevant for murderers. Entitlement beliefs were observed in 43% of the sample, with these
offenders being described as believing that they were entitled to take sex because they wanted it,
particularly if the eventual victim was someone who had sexually aroused them or was in a

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relationship with them. These types of schema reflect beliefs that sex is a mans entitlement, and
were described as leading to an angry and violent response when sex was denied.
The role of sexual entitlement in sexual murder was also examined by Beech, Oliver,
Fisher and Beckett (2006), who examined sexual murderers motivations for offending. Three
motivations were observed (grievance, sexual and sadistic), and sexual entitlement thinking
appeared to be most implicated in the sexually motivated group. This group were most likely
to have planned their assault, and targeted a woman dispassionately for the purpose of having
sex, with consent being irrelevant as long as his sexual needs were met. Murder appeared to
have been committed either as a result of injuries sustained through instrumental violence
used to enable the sexual assault or because the offender made the decision to kill the victim to
avoid detection. In contrast with the Beech et al. (2005) findings, the grievance-motivated
group, who were more likely to rape or kill as an angry response to rejection or other victim
behaviour, were not described as demonstrating sexual entitlement thinking.
A number of further studies have been conducted specifically examining entitlement
beliefs among familial child sexual offenders, or incest offenders. Hanson et al. (1994) found
that sexual entitlement and child-abuse supportive beliefs distinguished between those who
sexually offended and those who did not. The authors concluded that the incest offenders
were: narcissistic, uninhibited men who believe that their own sexual impulses must be
fulfilled (p. 197).
Phelen (1995) interviewed 40 male perpetrators (fathers and stepfathers) and 44 children
(daughters and stepdaughters) about their perceptions of incest abuse. One category of the
cognitions used by the fathers was entitled rights and responsibilities. This was described as
an implicit assumption that the fathers had unique rights based on their status as father
(p. 14). For instance, one participant said: its my daughter, Ive got all the rights (Phelen,
1995). This clearly demonstrates that the fathers expected their daughters to obey these
rights. These rights and privileges may stem from the fact that the father sees his daughter
as his possession or property. For instance, a further study describes the beliefs of a group of
intrafamilial offenders: My childs body is as much mine as it is hers and shes my girl, so
that gives me the right to do anything with her I want to (Snowdon, 1984, p. 59). This is
echoed further in a separate study of 14 male perpetrators of child sex abuse who saw their
child victims as their property (Gilgun & Connor, 1989).
The majority of the literature reviewed here involves descriptions of sexual entitlement
thoughts which form part of more general studies into the beliefs of sexual offenders, rather
than specific studies focusing exclusively upon sexual entitlement. We summarized the main
entitlement themes which seem to emerge from the literature into four main themes as follows:
1.

2.

3.
4.

Men viewing women or children as their property or possession, which is observed in

previous research on both rapists and incest offenders (in rapists: Bergen, 1996;
Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985; Scully, 1990; in incest offenders: Phelen, 1995; Snowdon,
1984).
Men believing sex is a marital right, or an entitlement to sexual relations with a child
because the victim is related to him, which is seen in previous research on rapists and
incest offenders (Bergen, 1996; Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985; Gilgun & Connor, 1989;
Phelen, 1995; Snowdon, 1984).
Men believing that sex is their birthright, seen predominantly in previous research on
sexual murderers (Beech et al., 2005).
Men believing that they should satisfy their needs because only they matter,
observed in rapists (e.g. Polaschek & Gannon, 2004), sexual murderers (Beech et al.,
2005) and incest offenders (Gilgun, 1988).

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The current study aimed to develop the concept of sexual entitlement by exploring the nature
of entitlement thoughts experienced at the time of offending by four types of sexual offenders:
rapists, intrafamilial child offenders, extrafamilial child offenders and sexual murderers. The
present research thus intends to identify whether the four themes described above are present
in a sample of sexual offenders, and to further existing research by comparing different types
of offenders, including extrafamilial child offenders, which previous research has not
examined. The research will also explore whether these different offender types hold similar
or distinct types of sexual entitlement thoughts.

Method
Participants
The participants were 40 incarcerated adult males who had committed sexual or sexually
motivated offences and had subsequently attended a Sex Offender Treatment Programme
(SOTP) during their sentence in HM Prison Service. Each sexual offender had sexual
entitlement identified as one of their dynamic risk factors by a structured clinical judgement
procedure [Structured Assessment of Risk and Need (SARN); Thornton, 2002; Webster et al.,
2006]. The offenders were drawn from seven different prison establishments across England
and Wales. The sample comprised a mixture of life sentence prisoners, determinate sentence
prisoners, young offenders and older offenders. All the offenders had an IQ of greater than 80.
Their mean age was 48.23 years (standard deviation 12.95; range 19
77), with 38 of the
participants of white British origin and two participants of black Caribbean descent. Four types
of sexual offenders were examined: 15 rapists, 10 sexual murderers, eight intrafamilial child
molesters and nine extrafamilial child molesters.

Data sources
In order to explore the sexual entitlement thoughts held by the sexual offenders at the time of
offending, two data sources were utilized: the SARN Treatment Need Analysis (TNA) and
the decision chain.

SARN TNA
The TNA procedure requires an examination of 16 dynamic (changeable) risk factors that have
been found to predict recidivism in male sexual offenders, to determine which factors apply for
any given offender. Both the offence itself and the lifelong functioning (generality) of the
offender are examined. This procedure is part of the SARN (a derivation of Structured Risk
Assessment; Thornton, 2002), which also involves an assessment of static risk and of progress
following treatment. One of the dynamic risk factors within the TNA is sexual entitlement. The
TNA is usually conducted prior to an offenders attendance on an SOTP programme, although
sometimes it is added to upon completion of a programme in light of new information. The
training procedure for the TNA involves an assessment of scoring reliability (Webster et al.,
2006), thus we can be reasonably certain that the areas identified as dynamic risk factors for an
individual are relatively reliable. All the participants in this study had sexual entitlement
identified as a risk factor by the TNA procedure.

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Decision chains
The decision chain is a written piece of work produced by an offender during his participation
on SOTP. It consists typically of eight to 12 links that detail the chronological build up to an
individuals offence and forms a chain of thoughts, behaviours and feelings which culminate
in the offence itself. Usually this consists of a series of short statements or phrases, rather than
lengthy prose. The decision chain procedure is based on the cognitive
behavioural chain
method (Nelson & Jackson, 1989).

Procedure
Letters were distributed to treatment managers at establishments offering SOTP in England
and Wales. The letter provided details of the study and requested help in obtaining the above
data sources. The letter requested that treatment managers identify suitable individuals in their
establishment who had committed a sexual murder, a sexual offence against a child or rape, and
who fulfilled the criteria for entry into the study. The first entry criterion was that offenders
have the presence of sexual entitlement identified within their TNA; that is, having this
dynamic risk factor identified as strongly characteristic for both indicators of generality and
in the lead-up to the offence. Offenders must also have completed decision chains as part of an
SOTP. The data sources used for the qualitative analysis (i.e. decision chains) were completed
only on those who had taken part in an SOTP. A consent form was sent alongside the letter,
which was distributed to individuals who fulfilled these requirements. This explained the
purpose of the study, and informed individuals that participation in the study was entirely
voluntary and that they could withdraw their data at any time. Individuals were also assured of
their anonymity and the security of the data they supply.
One hundred prisoners were identified as eligible for the study. Of these, 36 chose not to
participate or did not return the consent form; and a further 24 had been released so could not be
approached. Data were obtained from seven prisons with a final sample of 40 sexual offenders.
The decision chains were first sorted by offence to produce four separate groups of
offenders. Each decision chain was then examined for the presence of sexual entitlement
thoughts. These entitlement thoughts were then clustered (if applicable) by meaning. The
four themes described earlier were used as explicit categories to cluster these thoughts. Once
all the thoughts had been examined, and were clustered where appropriate into the four
predefined categories, an inductive approach was taken so that any thoughts that did not
appear to fit the predefined codes were clustered together into further types of entitlement
thoughts or concepts. Finally, similarities and differences in sexual entitlement thoughts
between offence types were explored.

Results
The decision chains were first subjected to a deductive content analysis to determine whether
the sexual entitlement thoughts present were similar to those observed in the previous
literature. The four themes identified from the research literature formed the basis of the
following four categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Women/children are my property.

Sex is my right as a husband/partner/father.
Sex is a mans birthright.
Only I matter.

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The decision chains were scrutinized separately by each researcher who attached entitlement
thoughts to one of the four categories depending upon the nature of the entitlement. The
researchers then compared and discussed their conclusions to reach a consensus. This formed
the deductive stage of the content analysis. Several entitlement thoughts did not fit into any of
the four categories so were then examined and clustered further into new categories of meaning
by each researcher, prior to reaching agreement collaboratively on new categories. This formed
the inductive stage of the analysis. The number of entitlement thoughts observed in each
category were then compared to examine the frequency of types of entitlement. Finally, the
number of entitlement thoughts for each offender type within each category was also scrutinised
to determine whether offender types vary in the sorts of entitlement thoughts and underlying
attitudes they express.
Six main categories of entitlement thinking were identified. The first four support previous
research findings, as listed above. The remaining two are new categories of entitlement thinking
which emerged from the data. Each of these six categories will be examined and described in
turn.

I can offend because women/children are my possession/property

Table I shows the thoughts relating to this entitlement category.
The first category involved thoughts or statements relating to offenders believing that
they have some sort of ownership over their victim, which they assume means that they have
the right to offend. This category was observed among all types of sexual offenders, with an
overall total of 11 statements falling into this category. The main assumption behind this
belief appears to be that the victim is seen as a possession or an object: I own you, youre
mine to do with what I please. It appears that the thoughts in this category represent a
general sense of ownership which often appears in situations where the offender has cornered
a victim: Ive got her where I want her, or when they have already used extreme violence
towards the victim. The rapists and sexual murderers in this study held similar entitlement
beliefs within this category; however, there were some specific thoughts identified within the
sexual murderer group which seemed, by their extremity, to set them apart from the rapists:
Table I. Category 1: I can offend because women/children are my possession/property
Offender type

Entitlement thought

Number

Rapists

Shes mine
I possess her
She belongs to me, Im paying
Ive got her where I want her

Sexual murderers

I own you, youre mine to do with what I please

Shes mine to do with what I want*I can have sex anytime I like*it
doesnt matter if I knock her about or even beat
her unconscious*shes mine to do with as I like
By taking what is mine, Im in the right
Ive got you in my power now and I will never let you go, you are mine

Extrafamilial child offenders

These children think a lot of me, its almost as if they are mine
The children in my class are mine, my possessions, my property

Intrafamilial child offenders

She is mine*I own her*this is right

Total

11

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it doesnt matter if I knock her about or even beat her unconscious*shes mine to do with as
I like and Ive got you in my power now and I will never let you go, you are mine.
These attitudes show a complete disregard for any of the victims feelings and suggest that
the offenders took pleasure in their use of violence and the subsequent murder of
their victims.
I can offend because its my right as a husband/partner/father
The second entitlement category was supported by the present data, with a total of 12
thoughts being identified across the 40 decision chains observed which fit into this category.
These thoughts are shown in the Table II.
This category includes thoughts concerning offenders believing they have a right to
offend as a direct consequence of their relationship with the victims. This is similar to the first
category, but the statements seem to reflect a belief that this ownership is to do with their
relationship to the victims, for example: the woman does what I say, Im not raping her,
shes my wife. Entitlement thoughts from sexual murderers were also evident within this
category. For example one offender said of his stepdaughter victim: If I cant have her,
nobody else is going to, which suggests that he felt that he had a right over his stepdaughter
because of their relationship. Intrafamilial offenders also displayed thinking linked directly to
the fact that they are related: she is only my stepdaughter so its no big deal and she is
mine, I own her, this is right. No entitlement thoughts from extrafamilial child offenders
clustered into this category, due to the fact that extrafamilial offenders are not related to
their victims.
I can offend because it is my birthright as a man
Twenty-eight statements were clustered together into this category of entitlement (see
Table III). This category was formulated from the following types of thoughts: I am a man,
I can take sex and its my right and Im entitled whenever I need it. This category comprised
almost exclusively the thoughts of rapists and sexual murderers. Furthermore, one of the only
child offenders whose statement was clustered into this category (an extrafamilial offender)
Table II. Category 2: I can offend because its my right as a husband/partner/father
Offender type

Entitlement thought

Number

Rapists

I have the right (.. as her partner)

I know Im going to have sex tonight as Ive got a girlfriend
The woman does what I say, Im not raping her, shes my wife
Im desperate to get married to satisfy my sexual need. . . marriage is
for sex and companionship
Ill consider an arranged marriage to have sex without feeling guilty

Sexual murderers

She was mine, now no one is going to have her

If I cant have her, nobody else is going to
She was mine, now no one is going to have her

I want to shag her, everybody else is getting it

Shes mine to do what I want with (as a father)
She is only my stepdaughter so its no big deal
Its natural and its my right

Intrafamilial child offenders

Total

12

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Table III. Category 3: I can offend because I am a man and sex is my birthright
Offender type
Rapists

Sexual murderers

Entitlement thought

Number

I deserve what I want as a man

Im going to get what Im owed (as a man)
This is what I deserve
They (women) dont have a right to say no
She shouldnt have stopped me
Men should have sex when they want it
I want sex, they dont matter, I am a man, I can take sex
Im irresistible, girls love me, shell love me after tonight, everyone
knows I am a love god
How dare you say no, you ought to be grateful, Im gonna fuck her
regardless
Women are not equal to me

10

Its my right and Im entitled whenever I need it

I deserve to get what I dream of, you have no right to keep it from me
(As a man) I deserve this 100%
You should have taken more notice of me, cared for me, made me
feel successful
You are going to kiss me whether you want to or not
She doesnt want this: I am going to anyway
If she wont let me shag her I will do it anyway*if I have to, I will
rape her
Nothing is going to stop me having sex its my right
If you had given me what I wanted, I wouldnt have to do this
She should have let me shag her
Its your fault, you knew what I wanted and wouldnt give it to me
I will prove to you that I am a man and you are something to use
I am a man, she is just a woman
She should have given me what I wanted

14

Extrafamilial child offenders

If I get an erection, I want sex, Im entitled to sex

She was there to satisfy me

Intrafamilial child offenders

I need and I am entitled

If she (wife) isnt going to give me sex, I will get it from elsewhere

Total

2
2
28

went on to commit a sexual murder against an adult female at a later date, indicating a
possibility that the strength of his entitlement thoughts distinguish him from other extrafamilial
child offenders.
This theme seemed to be particularly pertinent for the sexual murderers. This groups
main explanation for their offending in the decision chains seemed to concern a belief that the
victim should have known that the offender wanted sex, and should have given it to him. Such
thoughts were identified as present both prior to and following the murder. Pre-offence
thoughts included: Nothing is going to stop me having sex, no one will know its me
if I strangle her. Post-offence manifestations of this attitude include: If you had given me
what I wanted, I wouldnt have to do this, with this referring to the murder. In general,
this attitude appears to fit with more traditional notions of sexual entitlement, that of sex
being a privilege for a man simply because he is male. Offenders with this belief see sex
as part of a womans role and therefore feel justified in their actions: they (women) dont
have a right to say no, men should have sex when they want it and this is what
I deserve.

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I can offend because only I matter

The fourth category relates to underlying schemas that the offender always deserves what he
wants because he views himself as more important than anybody else. It is an egotistical,
self-centred attitude. Table IV shows the groups of thoughts relating to this theme by
offence type. It is the category with the most thoughts attached to it, being made up of 34
entitlement thoughts.
For both the rapists and sexual murderers, this form of sexual entitlement was manifest in
thoughts relating solely to the offenders own pleasure and the fulfilment of his own sexual
urges, with no concern for his victim. If he does recognize that she has feelings, he will not
empathize with these: she is not enjoying this, it doesnt matter. He appears cold to her
emotions or experiences, switching off completely. He will even plan ahead to ignore her

Table IV. Category 4: I can offend because only I matter

Offender type

Entitlement thought

Number

Rapists

I can do everything I want with this woman, I dont care about her
Sod her, I need a shag and Im getting one
Shes going to have it whether she likes it or not
Shes not going to stop me, whatever the cost
I plan to have sex with her whether she likes it or not
It doesnt matter if she gets pleasure as long as I do
If I have a hard on, release it, whether they (women) enjoy it or not
Its all to do with me
Tomorrow could be my opportunity to have sex with her with or without her
consent
Fuck what they (women) think, as long as Im happy
Im having it my way, shes got no choice
I need sex tonight and Im going to get it
She will give me what I want
If I want it, Ill get it
Im going to get what I want
Ill get her to do whatever I want
Ive got to have her, Ive got to satisfy my lust for her
It turns me on, getting a woman to do what I want
I dont really care what she wants as long as I have sex

19

Sexual murderers

I want to have sex with her

I am going to have sex, I am getting what I want
She will satisfy me*I will give her plenty of sex even if she doesnt want it
If I kill her I can still get or take what I want
Im going to do what I want with her
She is not enjoying this, but it doesnt matter

Extrafamilial
child offenders

I want him, Ill rape him

I can do what Ive always wanted to do
Im going to get what I want
If I want sex I will have it
I didnt care what she got out of it, I was only interested in what I wanted
I want to have sex with him
I would like to have sex with a boy

I want this: I need to be loved

I am in him at last, this is what I wanted

Intrafamilial
child offenders
Total

34

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experience: tomorrow could be my opportunity to have sex with her with or without
her consent.
The child offenders also expressed thoughts relating to this category. As with other
offenders, this entitlement reflects the fact that if they want something they feel they should
have it: I want him, Ill rape him. Similarly, it does not appear to be the case that the offender
is unaware of his victims feelings, rather he chooses to ignore them: I didnt care what she got
out of it, I was only interested in what I wanted. The inductive stage of the analysis resulted in
the emergence of a further two categories of entitlement, which were not identified previously
from the literature we examined.
I can offend because the victim owes me
We identified a number of thoughts of entitlement based on the idea that the offender sees his
victim as a possession because he considers that the victim owes him. There were 23
thoughts or statements falling into this category. This group of thoughts appeared to consist of
a conscious rationale, or attempt to create a tangible justification to allow the offender, in his
mind, to offend. Table V shows all the thoughts relating to this category.
For most offender types this comprised a monetary or material exchange. For instance, one
rapist believed Im paying. . . she belongs to me, while an extrafamilial child offender thought:
Table V. Category 5: I can offend because they owe me
Offender type

Entitlement thought

Number

Im paying, shes here with me, she belongs to me

If they want to use me for drugs, then Ill treat them the same*use them,
fuck their body, fuck their minds
She agreed to come back for coffee*I took it for granted sex was going to
take place
If I give her a place to stay, shes got to sleep with me
She knew she need a place to stay so she had to pay for it somehow
They owe me
A favour for a favour, shell pay for this.

Sexual murderers

Im going to fuck you as hard as I can*you owe me this

I want what you owe me
Shell do for me, I deserve a treat, Im always doing things for other people

Extrafamilial child
offenders

I want to take him to Disney World in Florida. Ill share a bed with him and
have sex in return there. Ill pay for him to go
I could befriend and bribe them so they feel obliged
I have repaired his bicycle, I will tell him I have done something for him,
now he should do something for me in return, tell him he owes me
Hes coming willingly with me because he knows he owes me
All these kids owe me something
If I offer them money and they agree, then itll be ok
If I bribe her, she will always come back for more
I gave her something (sweets) so I expect something back in exchange
Ill tell him if he wants a computer, theres a price tag

I deserve this, after all Ive done for her

Im entitled after all Ive done for her over the past three years
After all Ive just done*Ive killed her mother for this
He will have to do what I want now

Rapists

Intrafamilial child
offenders

Total

23

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I want to take him to Disneyworld . . . Ill. . . have sex in return there, Ill pay for him to go.
There were also non-monetary examples based on a reciprocal exchange of favours: Ive
repaired his bicycle . . . now he should do something for me in return. This aspect of entitlement
was prevalent among the child offenders. The intrafamilial child offenders entitlement thoughts
were more related to an exchange in return for years of fathering: I deserve this after all Ive
done for her. The conscious decision-making involved in the exchange of a favour for sexual
gratification can be viewed as part of the grooming behaviours often used by child offenders.
One incest offender took this type of thinking to the extreme: upon raping his stepdaughter prior
to murdering her, he felt entitled because: after all Ive just done*Ive killed her mother for
this.

I can offend because I have the power

The second category we identified which appeared to be distinctly different to the five
categories above was that of offenders believing they can offend because they have the power
to do so (see Table VI).
The thoughts clustering into this category came mainly from rapists and sexual murderers,
with only one thought identified from one child offender in the sample, and a total of 13
thoughts forming this category. The category was formulated from the following types of
thoughts from rapists and sexual murderers: Im the boss and theres no question of who is
in control now. These offenders seemed to see themselves as strong and powerful, which in
turn gave them the belief that they were entitled to do what they wanted because of this. The
thoughts also appear to relate to men feeling they should be macho, and beliefs around
hypermasculinity. For example, one offender stated: I am superior to her, not less, which
indicates a desire to appear powerful and be dominant in interactions with others, particularly
women.

Comparison between types of offenders

Table VII shows the number of thoughts identified via the content analysis which cluster
together to form the categories. As shown, the fourth category, only I matter, was the most
Table VI. Category 6: I can offend because I have the power
Offender type
Rapists

Entitlement thought
I can rape her now Im in control
Im the boss
I will become a harder man
Im in control, I can do what I want to her
Im in control here and I have the power

Number

Sexual murderers

She knows she cant refuse me sex

I am superior to her, not less
Ive got you in my power now, and Ill never let you go
I can always force her
I will prove I am a man
I feel powerful, Im in control, Im the strong one
Theres no question of who is in control now

Extrafamilial child offenders

I can control him in my mind as practice for acting it out

Total

13

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Table VII. Number of entitlement thoughts by offender type

Offender type

Category
Possession/property
Right as husband/
partner/father
Birthright
Only I matter
They owe me
I have the power

Sexual
murderers

Extrafamilial
child offenders

Intrafamilial
child offenders

All

Rapists
4
5

4
3

2
0

1
4

11
12

10
19
7
5

14
6
3
7

2
7
8
1

2
2
5
0

28
34
23
13

prominent, and women/children are my possession/property was the least prominent.

Examination of this table also enables us to compare entitlement beliefs between types of
sexual offenders. The most common category of entitlement thought identified for rapists was
only I matter followed by sex is my birthright as a man. For sexual murderers, the most
common entitlement thoughts were sex is my birthright and I have the power. Among the
extrafamilial child offenders, the two most prominent entitlement categories were they owe
me and only I matter. For intrafamilial child offenders, they owe me and its my right
as a father were the most frequent entitlement thoughts expressed.
Comparing across offender types it seems that rapists and sexual murderers express more
entitlement thoughts surrounding themes of sex is my birthright and I have the power
than intra- and extrafamilial child offenders. The themes of women/children are my
possession/property, its my right as a husband/partner/father, only I matter and they
owe me were expressed by all types of sexual offenders in this study.

Discussion
This study set out to investigate the nature of sexual entitlement attitudes of sexual offenders
by qualitatively analysing thoughts expressed within offenders written decision chains and
examining similarities and differences between sexual offender types. This study supports the
hypothesis that sexual entitlement is a dynamic risk factor for some sexual offenders. Sexual
entitlement thinking was found in all types of sexual offender, and entitlement thoughts were
observed in reference to a child or an unrelated victim as well as partners. The sexual
offenders in this sample held a range of entitlement views. Six themes of entitlement were
identified from the decision chains. The first four themes support previous research on
entitlement among convicted sexual offenders. In addition, two further themes emerged: I can
offend because the victim owes me; and I can offend because I have the power. These two
additional themes have not been identified in previous research or literature, and we believe
that they provide important further information regarding entitlement beliefs which may be
contributory factors to sexual offending. The present research has expanded previous research
by identifying these two further entitlement themes, and also by comparing four types of
sexual offenders, including extrafamilial child offenders, whom past researchers have not
examined specifically in relation to sexual entitlement.
Due to the fact that there was a slightly greater number of rapists and sexual murderers
compared to child molesters in the present sample, it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions
from the comparisons of the number of entitlement thoughts expressed by each of the offence

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301

type groups. However, the results indicate that rapists and sexual murderers tend to have
similar types of sexual entitlement thoughts.
Two themes in particular appeared to be dominated by thoughts from rapists and sexual
murderers. These were offenders believing they have rights over women because they are male
(sex is my birthright as a man) and offenders believing they can offend because they have
the power. The latter is one of the newly identified entitlement schema. Both these statements
fit into more traditional notions of sexual entitlement (e.g. Beech et al., 2005; Scully, 1990).
In particular it seems that rapists and sexual murderers may hold hypermasculinity views and
attitudes which result in them believing they are superior to women, which may result in turn
in expressions of hostility and violence towards women. It may be that this is expressed
particularly when offenders are denied sex by a partner or woman.
Although none of the sexual murderers or rapists had male victims it would be expected
that, if they did, the forms of entitlement relating to men as deserving sex simply because they
were male would not exist for these offenders. This may explain why no male victim rapists
were eligible for this study. As mentioned previously, these types of thoughts were not held in
the majority by child offenders. This accords with the notion that, by the very nature of their
offences, child offenders may be less likely to feel they have a birthright entitlement to sex, and
to feel they can offend because they are powerful.
The remaining themes were identified among all types of sexual offenders; viewing the
victim as a possession or property, believing one has a right to offend because they are related to
the victim in some way (its my right as a husband/partner/father), believing oneself entitled to
sex due to self-centredness and self-importance (only I matter) and believing one can offend
because they owe me. This latter theme has not been identified in previous research. It reflects
the offenders belief that the victim should reciprocate sex for a favour given by the offender.
This attitude was displayed by intrafamilial child offenders who regard themselves as fathers
who deserve something in return for fathering, and also by extrafamilial child offenders who use
grooming techniques to make the victim comply with them. This theme was also observed in
rapists in the form of the offender believing the victim owes him for taking her out, and in sexual
murderers, who believed their victims or society owed them in some way.
The differences observed between adult and child offenders in the sample may reflect a
disparity in beliefs regarding these offenders status as men and their views towards women and
children. By far the most recurrent entitlement view expressed by the rapists and sexual
murderers in the sample was only I matter, its my birthright and I have the power.
These entitlement views seem to reflect a hypermasculinity, or male superiority. Generally,
extrafamilial child offenders did not appear to have very different thoughts to intrafamilial child
offenders, despite the literature which suggests that extrafamilial child offenders hold stronger
cognitive distortions in general (Phelen, 1995). The most prominent entitlement view
expressed by the child offenders was the victims owe me and only I matter. In contrast
to rapists and sexual murderers, the emergent picture of child offenders from this study is that
they seem to have adopted an aggressive victim stance, and are aggrieved by a sense of
wrongdoing. It is not clear whether these types of entitlement thoughts are driving the offending
or whether they are post hoc justifications. Further research would be required to untangle the
nature and purpose of these entitlement beliefs.
An interesting issue for further examination is the question of whether entitlement
thinking must be focused specifically upon sexual gratification for sexual offending to occur.
Polaschek and Wards (2002) implicit theory of (general) entitlement seems to be echoed in
this study in the category only I matter. Are general and sexual entitlement separate
concepts, or is one simply an aspect of the other? Further research could attempt to examine
this issue.

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A. E. Pemberton & H. C. Wakeling

Limitations of the study

It is important to mention the limitations associated with this study. First, there was a
relatively small number of participants in each offender group, and there was also a degree of
overlap between these. Furthermore, the response rate for this study was low; although 26
prisons were contacted, only seven responded. Future research should attempt to replicate
these findings with larger samples. Additionally, the inter-rater reliability of the coding was
not examined. Although the two authors conducted the coding of entitlement thoughts
together and discussed any apparent discrepancies in opinion before a consensus was reached,
formal inter-rater reliability data were not gathered. Gathering these data would have
strengthened the current paper and made the methodology more robust.
It should also be mentioned that the present sample consisted of men undertaking a
treatment programme for sexual offenders, and therefore may not reflect the entitlement
beliefs of all sexual offenders, particularly those untreated. Future research could attempt to
clarify this issue by examining sexual entitlement thoughts among untreated sexual offenders.
It would also be useful to determine and examine more clearly the link between societal views
of women and sexual entitlement and sexual offenders views. This could be examined by
exploring sexual entitlement among non-convicted men. It was also not possible within the
present research to examine differences between offenders of differing characteristics, such as
age and ethnicity, which would be an important avenue for future research to explore.

Conclusion
The present study provides support for identified themes of entitlement in the literature, as
well as identifying two further types of entitlement. We believe that the findings of this study
provide an expanded description of the nature of sexual entitlement thinking among sexual
offenders. Sexual entitlement is a multifaceted concept which has been clarified in this study
into the categories which comprise it, which may make the phenomenon more identifiable to
forensic professionals. In turn, this should help to ensure that sexual offenders pro-offending
attitudes are targeted more specifically on offending behaviour programmes by treatment
providers such as psychologists who challenge offenders schemas and justifications, and
measure change in attitude. If such beliefs are not identified in the first instance, due to a lack
of clarity around the nature of sexual entitlement in different offenders, this dynamic risk
factor may not be addressed adequately. Therefore, expanding the current definition and
knowledge of sexual entitlement has important implications for the successful rehabilitation of
convicted sexual offenders.

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