Groth, A(loysius) Nicholas 1937-

views updated

GROTH, A(loysius) Nicholas 1937-

PERSONAL: Born December 6, 1937, in Webster, MA; son of Aloysius Nestor and Sophie Mary (Karabash) Groth. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Boston University, B.A., 1959, M.A., 1960, Ph.D., 1972.

ADDRESSES: Home—7513 Pointview Cir., Orlando, FL 32836-6336; fax: 407-351-3148. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexually Dangerous Persons, Bridgewater, MA, psychologist, 1966-76; Whiting Forensic Institute, Middletown, CT, director, 1976-77; Harrington Memorial Hospital, Southbridge, MA, director of forensic mental health program, 1977-78; Connecticut Correctional Institution, Somers, CT, codirector of sex offender program, 1978-86; St. Joseph College Institute for Treatment and Control of Child Abuse, Hartford, CT, codirector, 1980-96; writer. Forensic Mental Health Associates, executive director, 1981-90; National Center for Prevention and Control of Rape, member of advisory board, 1981-85; consultant to Wyoming State Honor Farm.

MEMBER: American Association of Orthopsychiatry, American Psychology-Law Society, American Psychology Association, National Organization of Victim Assistance, Connecticut Psychology Association, Massachusetts Psychology Association.

WRITINGS:

(With H. Jean Birnbaum) Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1979.

Anatomical Drawings for the Use in the Investigation and Intervention of Child Sexual Abuse, Forensic Mental Health Associates (Newton Center, MA), 1984.

(With A. W. Burgess, L. L. Holmstrom, and S. Sgroi) Sexual Assault of Children and Adolescents, D. C. Heath (Lexington, MA), 1978.

(With John M. Preble) Male Victims of Same-Sex Abuse: Addressing Their Sexual Responses, Sidran Press (Towson, MD), 2002.

Contributor to books, including The Sexual Assault of Children and Adolescents, Lexington Books (Lexington, MA), 1978; Social Work and Child Sexual Abuse, edited by Jon R. Conte and David A. Shore, Haworth Press, 1982; The Sexual Aggressor: Current Perspectives on Treatment, edited by J. G. Greer and I. R. Stuart, Van Nostrand Reinhold (New York, NY), 1983; A Handbook of Clinical Intervention in Child Sexual Abuse, edited by S. Sgroi, D. C. Heath (Lexington, MA), 1982, 2nd edition, Lexington Books (New York, NY), 1994; and Vulnerable Populations, Volume 2, edited by S. Sgroi, Lexington Books (Lexington, MA), 1989. Creator of videotapes on rape, sexual abuse, and working with offenders. Contributor to periodicals, including Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Life, Criminal Justice and Behavior, New England Journal of Medicine, International Journal of Women's Studies, Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Prison Health, Social Science and Medicine, and Advocate. Contributing editor, Treatment for Sexual Aggressiveness News, 1981.

SIDELIGHTS: A. Nicholas Groth is a psychologist who specializes in sexual abuse and is the author of several books related to that topic. Elizabeth Stark, in a Psychology Today article on incest, referred to Groth's studies on child molesters that uncovered exposure to childhood sexual abuse in 81 percent of sexual offenders (prisoners and mental patients). According to Stark, Groth distinguishes two types of sexual offenders: those who have never developed an adult perspective on sexuality and are thus fixated on sexual relations with children, and those who have regressed due to stress.

Among Groth's works is Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender, in which he argues that rape is essentially what Dennis L. Peck, reviewing the book inContemporary Sociology, described as "a method for seeking social status, defining social identity, ventilating anger, and achieving power." This work, which Groth wrote in collaboration with H. Jean Birnbaum, analyzes the cases of more than 500 rapists and characterizes sexual offenders as unstable individuals who are often incapable of enduring the everyday pressures of contemporary life. In addition, explain Groth and Birnbaum, these rapists were often victims of childhood abuse and are often incapable of maintaining conventional sexual behavior. Peck, in his assessment of Men Who Rape, characterized the book as "a scholarly exercise," and contended that it "should achieve a prominent position in the growing literature on [rape and rapists]."