The offense records of a sample of convicted exhibitionists.

It is generally acknowledged in Western countries that exhibitionism is the most common of sexual offenses. The relationship between offense and conviction rates is, of course, unknown and survey data1,2,:1 indicate that in fact few of the many female victims report the incident to police. As noted by Brownell,4 the general community attitude toward exhibitionists is one of amusement and derision. The offender is seen as essentially harmless and, indeed, on the basis of their interviews with 44 victims, Gittleson, Eacott and Mehta2 conclude that "for the majority of victims, the long-term effects are minimal." Most report, however, that they felt fear at the time of the offense. For the most part, the literature suggests that the typical exhibitionist is scarcely a frightening man. While it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss this literature in detail, the reader is referred to Blair and Lanyon5 who, in their recent extensive review, conclude that "few of these exhibitionists were seen by the investigators as overtly disturbed and that, as a group, they were often characterized as timid, unassertive individuals who were lacking in social skills and had difficulty recognizing and handling aggression and hostility. " The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (3rd edition)6 also describes the exhibitionist as "usually not dangerous to the victim." . Yet, as noted by Smith and Meyer,7 "the issue of dangerousness of a person charged with or convicted of indecent exposure appears in one form or another repeatedly in the legal system. There is some feeling that ... exhibitionism may be one step on the road to more violent sexual offenses." The literature on this issue is limited. Case studies of exhibitionists who have proceeded to multiple violent sexual offenses have been presented by MacDonald8 and Bush.9 Frisbie and Dondis 1o suggest that about 11 percent of individuals first arrested for exhibitionism will later be arrested for paedophilia or sexual assault. Rooth'sll review suggested that about 10-12 percent of exhibitionists go on to more serious sexual crimes. His own data on 30 exhibitionists indicate a low frequency of violent sexual behavior but a rather large incidence of paedophilia. Jones and Frei,l2 on the basis of MMPI profiles on 16 exhibitionists, estimated that about a quarter might be expected to act out aggressively. As noted by Rooth,ll "the psychiatrist is commonly asked to advise