This is the first Italian study to examine views on sexbots of adult male sex offenders and non-offenders, and their perceptions of sexbots as sexual partners, and sexbots as a means to prevent sexual violence. In order to explore these aspects 344 adult males were involved in the study. The study carried out two types of comparisons. 100 male sex offenders were compared with 244 male non-offenders. Also, sex offenders were divided into child molesters and rapists. Preliminary findings suggest that sex offenders were less open than non-offenders to sexbots, showed a lower acceptance of them, and were more likely to dismiss the possibility of having an intimate and sexual relationship with a sexbot. Sex offenders were also less likely than non-offenders to believe that the risk of sexual violence against people could be reduced if a sexbot was used in the treatment of sex offenders. No differences were found between child molesters and rapists. Though no definitive conclusion can be drawn about what role sexbots might play in the prevention and treatment of sex offending, this study emphasizes the importance of both exploring how sexbots are both perceived and understood. Sex offenders in this study showed a high dynamic sexual risk and, paradoxically, despite, or because of, their sexual deviance (e.g. deficits in sexual self-regulation), they were more inclined to see sexbots as just machines and were reluctant to imagine them as social agents, i.e. as intimate or sexual arousal partners. How sex offenders differ in their dynamic risk and criminal careers can inform experts about the mechanisms that take place and can challenge their engagement in treatment and intervention.

这是第一项意大利研究，旨在研究成年男性性犯罪者和非性犯罪者对性爱机器人的看法，以及他们将性爱机器人作为性伴侣的看法，以及将性爱机器人作为防止性暴力的一种手段。为了探索这些方面，344 名成年男性参与了这项研究。该研究进行了两种类型的比较。100 名男性性犯罪者与 244 名男性非性犯罪者进行了比较。此外，性犯罪者分为猥亵儿童者和强奸犯。初步调查结果表明，性犯罪者对性爱机器人的开放程度低于非犯罪者，对性爱机器人的接受度较低，并且更有可能排除与性爱机器人发生亲密和性关系的可能性。与非犯罪者相比，性犯罪者也不太可能相信如果使用性爱机器人治疗性犯罪者，可以降低对人的性暴力风险。在猥亵儿童者和强奸犯之间没有发现差异。尽管无法就性爱机器人在预防和治疗性犯罪中可能发挥的作用得出明确的结论，但这项研究强调了探索性爱机器人如何被感知和理解的重要性。本研究中的性犯罪者表现出高动态性风险，而且矛盾的是，尽管或由于他们的性异常（例如性自我调节的缺陷），他们更倾向于将性爱机器人视为机器，不愿想象它们作为社会代理人，即作为亲密或性唤起伙伴。