Docente
Marta Sousa

Resume

I, Marta Sousa, am an Assistant Professor at Lusófona University, Oporto. I am an Integrated Investigator at the Hei-Lab: Digital Laboratories of Human-Environment Interaction Labs (Lisbon, Portugal). I am also an Expert in Forensic Psychology at the Psychology Association of the University of Minho (APsi-UMinho). My main research interests focus on sexual crimes against children, specifically the characterization and intervention/rehabilitation of individuals who have committed these crimes, as well as risk assessment. I am also studying other types of violent behavior/crime, such as intimate partner violence and other violent offenses, with an emphasis on rehabilitation and mental health. Additionally, I am researching the impact of childhood experiences (both positive and negative) on adulthood, particularly about general antisocial behavior and sexual crimes, as well as the effects of imprisonment on the mental health of inmates (both male and female) and prison staff. I am also a practicing forensic psychologist and have been actively involved in several training and supervision activities in institutions for individuals who have committed crimes (e.g., prisons).

Graus

• Mestrado integrado
  Integrated Master’s Degree in Psychology
• Outros
  Certificado de Competências Pedagógicas
• Curso médio
  Advanced Course in Motivational Interviewing: From Intervention to Change
• Curso médio
  Suicide Behavior Prevention in Security Forces
• Doutoramento
  Psychology doctoral program
• Outros
  Schema Therapy for Forensic Populations Course
• Outros
  Providing Treatment to People Who Categorically Deny their Sex Crimes of Record
• Curso médio
  Narrative Therapy: Re-Authoring
• Curso médio
  Psychological Intervention with Refugees and Asylum Seekers
• Curso médio
  Course on Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo
• Curso médio
  Practical Skills for Working with Clients Who Are Angry
• Curso médio
  Workshop on Compassion-Focused Therapy with Children and Adolescents
• Pós-Graduação
  Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Course
• Pós-Graduação
  Translating Trauma-Informed Care Into Practice - Online Course
• Pós-Graduação
  Advanced and Specialized Course on Third-Wave Therapies
• Pós-Graduação
  Course on Third-Generation Therapies in Children and Adolescents
• Título de especialista
  Clinical and Health Psychology
• Curso médio
  Domestic Violence Focused Conjoint Treatment (DVFCT)

Publicações

Artigo em revista

• 2026-06-02, Gender and Judicial Decision-Making: A Systematic Review of How Gendered Narratives Shape Judicial Reasoning, Victims & Offenders
• 2026-05-30, Outcomes of the Therapeutic Relationship in Treating Individuals Who Have Committed Crimes: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2026-05-20, The Person Behind the Crime: Life Stories of Women and Men Who Committed Sexual Crimes, Sexual Abuse
• 2026-05-18, The Effectiveness of Intervention with Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Umbrella Review, Journal of Family Violence
• 2026-04-24, The Gap Between Best Practices and Reality: A Systematic Review on the Interventions With Incarcerated Women, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2026-04-01, Unveiling the Predictors of Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse: The Role of Empathy, Victim Empathy, and Cognitive Distortions, Crime & Delinquency
• 2026-01-30, Addressing Aggression in Intimate Partner Violence: Preliminary Findings from a Multimodal Intervention for Male Perpetrators, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
• 2026-01-15, Aggression in individuals who perpetrated crimes: The impact of adverse and positive childhood experiences., Psychology of Violence
• 2026, Effectiveness of the INSIGHT Program with Perpetrators of Sexual Violence Against Girls: A Non-RCT Pilot Study, Behavioral Sciences
• 2025-12-25, The Effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Interventions With Individuals Who Perpetrated Crimes: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2025-12-16, In Their Voices: Perceptions of Individuals Who Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse About the INSIGHT Program, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
• 2025-10-06, Attitudes of University Students Toward Individuals Who Have Committed Sexual Crimes: The Role of Sociodemographic and Personality Variables, Journal of Criminal Justice Education
• 2025-09-03, When Good Experiences Matter: Positive Childhood Experiences as a Moderator Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychopathic Traits in Community and justice-Involved Samples, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma
• 2025-09-03, From Abuse to Offense: The Legacy of Childhood Sexual Abuse on the Psychological Functioning of Men Who Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse, Victims & Offenders
• 2025-08-20, Instruments to Assess Bidirectional Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2025-05-10, Investigative Interviews with Individuals Who Perpetrated Sex Crimes: A Scoping Review, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
• 2025-05-03, Beyond Recidivism: A systematic Review exploring comprehensive criteria for successful Reintegration After Prison Release, Criminal Justice & Behavior
• 2025-02-28, The Impact of Positive Childhood Experiences: A Systematic Review Focused on Children and Adolescents, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2024-11-30, Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Outcomes: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2024-09-17, The Effectiveness of Psychological Intervention for Women Who Committed Child Sexual Abuse: An Empty Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2024-09, The Portuguese Version of Victim Empathy Distortion Scale: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties, J Police Crim Psych
• 2024-08, Validation of the Revised Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI-2) in Portugal, Sexual Abuse
• 2024-08, The Effectiveness of Intervention Programs for Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence with Substance Abuse and/or Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2024-07, INSIGHT intervention for individuals who sexually offended against children: preliminary results of a randomized pilot study, Psychology, Crime and Law
• 2024-05, The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy in Individuals Who Committed Crimes: A Systematic Review, Trauma Violence & Abuse
• 2024-04-24, Initial validation of Hanson Sex Attitude Questionnaire (HSAQ) in Portuguese perpetrators of child sexual abuse and perpetrators of non-sexual crimes, JOURNAL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
• 2024-02-12, Cognitive behavioural “third wave” therapies in the treatment of justice-involved individuals: A systematic review, Aggression and Violent Behavior
• 2024-01-24, Male Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse: A Comparison Between Individuals Serving Custodial and Non-Custodial Sentences, Crime & Delinquency
• 2023-12-13, To Be or Not to Be Empathic: the Role of Empathy in Child Sexual Offending, European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
• 2023-06-09, Intra and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse: The Role of Psychopathy, European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
• 2022-12-12, Remand Prisoners’ Specific Needs: A Systematic Review, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
• 2022-03, The effectiveness of psychological treatment in adult male convicted for sexual offenses against children: A systematic review, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
• 2022-03, Adverse Childhood Experiences Related to Cognitive and Emotional States: A study on Sexual Offenders in Italy and Portugal, Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala
• 2019-08, Prison officers' attitudes towards self-harm in prisoners, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Tese / Dissertação

• 2024-09, Doutoramento, Homens que praticaram abuso sexual de crianças: Da caracterização e avaliação à intervenção
• 2018-07-23, Mestrado, Atitudes dos guardas prisionais face a reclusos que se autolesionam

Capítulo de livro

• 2024, The INSIGHT Program: Promoting Sexual Violence Reduction Alongside Sustainable Cognitive Change and Well-Being, Sexual Offenders and Sexual Offending: A Comprehensive Analysis, Novapublishers
• 2024, Comportamento sexual desviante contra crianças: um caso clinico-forense , Intervenção psicológica com adultos , Pactor
• 2023, Violência nas relações de intimidade: Caracterização e intervenção nos ofensores, Violência contra as mulheres , Almedina
• 2021, Intervenção em Crise na Violência - Trauma, Intervenção Psicológica em Crise: Aplicações ao contexto de pandemia COVID-19, Linha de Apoio Psicológico SOS COVID-19 - APsi-UMinho
• 2021, A avaliação psicológica forense de ofensores/as sexuais , Manual de Psicologia Forense
• 2020, Justicia Terapéutica e Intervencion con Ofensores , Justicia Terapéutica: Un Nuevo Paradigma Legal, Wolters kluwer
• 2020, Intervenção Psicológica com Ofensores Adultos, A Prática Profissional da Psicologia na Justiça, Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses

Artigo em conferência

• Remanded prisoners’ specific needs: A scoping review, European Association of Psychology and Law
• Prevalência de perturbações mentais em reclusos preventivos: Uma revisão sistemática, 1.ª Convenção Psicologia UNORTE
• Female offenders’ perceptions about penal sanctions purposes and their own penalty, A just punishment for women? Punitive practices and female offenders' experiences
• Female offenders in custodial and non-custodial penalties: characterization and perceptions about penal sanctions, EUROCRIM e-conference
• 2023-05-05, Ser empático ou não ser: O papel da empatia na perpetração de violência sexual contra crianças, XI Congresso Iberoamericano de Avaliação Psicológica
• 2023-05-05, Abuso sexual de Crianças Intra e Extrafamiliar: O papel da psicopatia, Conferência: XI Congresso Iberoamericano de Avaliação Psicológica
• 2021-09, Necesidades específicas de los subtipos de abusadores sexuales infantiles: un estudio exploratorio, Ciclo de Conferencias en Psicología Jurídica y Forense
• 2021-08, Exploratory results about specific needs and child molesting: Differences between subtypes of offenders, 16th IATSO Conference

Resumo em conferência

• 2026-05, Entrevistas forenses para pessoas que cometeram crimes sexuais: Uma Scoping Review, VII Congresso da Associação Portuguesa de Ciências Forenses
• 2022-06-22, A eficácia do tratamento psicológico de homens condenados por crimes sexuais contra crianças: Uma revisão sistemática, XI Simpósio Nacional de Investigação em Psicologia

Poster em conferência

• 2025-09-19, Incarcerated aging: Needs and systemic risks of older prisoners. , 6th SRA-E Iberian
• 2025-09-18, Incarcerated aging: Needs and systemic risks of older prisoners, 6th SRA-E Iberian
• 2025-09-03, Psychological Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Male Who Perpetrated CSA, 25th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology
• 2025-04-29, O papel preditor da Psicopatia na Violência no Namoro entre estudantes: protocolo de investigação, II Jornadas de Psicologia: Práticas e Aplicações
• 2025-04-29, A relação entre experiências positivas, psicopatia e comportamentos antissociais numa amostra de Homens a cumprir pena de prisão: Um protocolo de investigação, II Jornadas de Psicologia: Práticas e Aplicações
• 2025-04-09, A eficácia das intervenções focadas no trauma com indivíduos que cometeram crimes: Uma revisão sistemática, 1ª Conferência sobre Trauma e Resiliência
• 2024-07, Validating the Revised Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI-2) in a Portuguese sample of male offenders, EAPL Annual Conference 2024
• 2024-07, In their voices: Perceptions of Individuals who sexually offended children about Insight Program, EAPL Annual Conference 2024
• 2023-05-15, Violência sexual contra crianças: uma análise da prevalência dos interesses sexuais pedófilos, 2.ª Simpósio Doutoral Psi.Unorte
• 2023, Intra and extra-familial child sexual abuse: The role of empathy , 23rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology
• 2022-02-04, A eficácia do tratamento psicológico de homens condenados por crimes sexuais contra crianças: Uma revisão sistemática, 1.ª Convenção Psicologia UNORTE
• 2021-09, The effectiveness of psychological treatment in convicted adult male child sexual abusers: preliminary results of a systematic review, EUROCRIM e-conference