Adolescents commit between 30% and 50% of the sexual offenses against young children in the United States. Adolescents who complete specialized treatment for sexual offending, including family therapy, have lower rates of sexual recidivism. Despite the evidence that including families in adolescents' treatment may contribute to lower sexual recidivism rates, there are few descriptions of family therapy with adolescents who sexually offend. In particular, there are no conceptualizations or models of family involvement derived from parents and adolescents' perspectives on treatment. To address this need, this study examined adolescents' and their parents\' experiences of participation in family therapy when the adolescent son had been required to complete treatment for sexual offending. In addition, the study explored how parent and adolescent participation in family therapy was associated with adolescents' progress in treatment for sexual offending. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, a conceptualization of family therapy was developed through semi-structured interviews with ten adolescent boys who have sexually offended and their parents/caregivers. In addition, a focus group of seven family therapists who specialize in the treatment of adolescents who sexually offend reviewed the findings and offered input on refining the emerging clinical conceptualization. Findings suggest that youth have more successful outcomes when therapists foster hopefulness and use parents to help motivate youth and facilitate change. Positive outcomes of family therapy for youth included expressing himself more clearly, caring about people, thinking about his future and setting goals, having more confidence, following the rules, "progressing in treatment, being accountable for his behavior, becoming more honest, developing life skills, and understanding and expressing regret for sexually offending. Positive outcomes of family therapy for families included changes in household rules, family roles, setting boundaries, and having respectful communication. Implications for how to best include families in adolescents' treatment of sexual offending are addressed. / Ph. D.

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Thesis advisor: Ann W. Burgess / Purpose: The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the meaning of being considered a ‘sex offender’ for the individual who is reintegrating into society. The aims included understanding the lived experience of the participants, while considering issues associated with self-perception, perception of others, stigma and humanization. A secondary aim was to unveil the meaning of being identified as a ‘sex offender’ and reintegrating into society carrying such label. Background: Individuals with a criminal history face several barriers upon reentering society. For individuals with a history of sexual offenses, the challenges are even more aggravated. In many instances, society perceives individuals charged with a sex offense (ICSO) as “evil,” “monsters” and “the highest form of evil.” Additionally, upon reentry, ICSOs are subject to several sanctions that are uniquely directed towards those who have committed sexual crimes, such as civil commitments, housing and employment limitations and the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). While treatment specializing in sex offending is available and has been associated with reduced sex offending, issues associated with stigma, protracted or inhibited reintegration and overall recidivism are still common occurrences. Method: This study was guided by Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenology philosophical principles, Max van Manen’s approach guided data collection and analysis. Only male adults (>18) were included in the study, and those who had a current “prisoner status” were excluded. Fourteen participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Participants were individually interviewed about their experience of being charged with a sexual offense, accounting for when they were first charged, until the period in which they reentered society. An iterative process was used for data analysis. Data was coded and interpreted through a hermeneutic circle. To ensure rigor and trustworthiness, Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were used, which include credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability. Audit trails, triangulation and reflexivity were essential strategies. Results: The study sample consisted of fourteen men, ranging in age from 23 to 68 years old (x̄ = 51.7 years; table 1). One participant identified his race/ethnicity as Asian American, while all other participants identified their race/ethnicity as white. Five of the participant were assigned a level 3 in the SORB, while four were assigned a level 1, three were assigned a level 2 and two were awaiting a level designation. The major themes identified were: (1) Exposed secret leads to humiliation (2) Being considered a sex offender is living in fear of the unknown, (3) Stigma consumes the identity of the individual charged with a sexual offense (4) Reframing and “leveling” of the crime are coping strategies; and (5) The path towards healing and forgiveness is complex. These themes represent different facets of the phenomenon of interest. Conclusion: Through hermeneutic phenomenology, a more complete understanding of the meaning of being considered a ‘sex offender’ for the person reintegrating into society was formed. The data uncovered allowed for a conceptualization of the phenomenon, The vexed question of accepting guilt while avoiding shame. Future research should focus on longitudinally exploring the interplay between behavior and the process of shame and guilt over time. Moreover, future studies should test and verify the conceptualization. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

The primary goal of this study was to analyze the characteristics of current registered sex offenders in Collin County, Texas, as well as to compare age and gender of the victims of these offenders in order to know who sex offenders primarily target in these crimes. The study also sought to discover geographic patterns of where the registered sex offenders reside for the purpose of keeping communities aware. Participants consisted of 175 registered sex offenders (N = 175) in Collin County, Texas, found on Collin County's and the Texas Department of Public Safety's online public registries. The findings demonstrate that there were significant trends among the sex offenders, their victims, location of residence, and housing complications as a result of progressing sex offender laws. Treatment programs and the reintegration of offenders in the community were also addressed. The meaning of the results in this study can aid in the development of safety and prevention strategies, provide an understanding about the utilization of sex offender registries, and can benefit law enforcement to predict the movement of current sex offenders, along with knowing where to find other potential offenders.

A review of the literature demonstrates that, to date, no concerted effort has been made to conceptualize and develop typologies for youthful male sex offenders on the basis of offense type. Such typologies are deemed important to the understanding of possible developmental antecedents for sexual offending, as well as to the development of theory-driven, empirically based interventions and preventions. This study attempts to begin the conceptualization process through a meta-analytic examination of 140 research samples that provide data on over 16,000 individuals who have committed sexual offenses as youth. Three subtypes of offenders are identified on the basis of offense type: sexual assault offenders, pedophilic offenders (those who molest children significantly younger than they are), and mixed offense offenders (those who commit multiple types of offenses, e.g., voyeurism, sexual assault, and pedophilic acts). The paucity of research that exists for youth voyeurs and exhibitionists precluded the inclusion of these and other "hands-off" offense subtypes. Descriptive and inferential analyses are conducted and described, typologies are presented, and implications for treatment are suggested. Recommendations for future research are made.

Under 2012 uppmärksammades ett ovanligt rån i media. En berusad man föll ned på ett tunnelbanespår och slog sig medvetslös. Därefter rånades han på sina värdesaker och lämnades åt sitt öde medan gärningsmannen lämnade platsen. Syftet med den här undersökningen var att mäta empati gentemot gärningsmannen och brottsoffret i denna händelse. I en kvantitativ enkätundersökning, med kvalitativa inslag, deltog 138 studenter varav 70 män. Resultaten visade skillnader mellan könen då männen kände mer empati för gärningsmannen än kvinnorna och kvinnorna kände mer empati för offret än männen. Alla deltagare uppvisade dock mer empati för offret än för gärningsmannen oavsett könstillhörighet. En förklaring till detta kan vara att männen identifierade sig mer med gärningsmannen utifrån kön medan kvinnorna empatiserade mer med offret utifrån hans hjälplöshet. Detta kan relateras till tidigare studier som visat att människor lättare känner empati för personer i svåra situationer samt de som dem kan identifiera sig med.

Many offenders participate in multiple treatment programs while incarcerated. Despite this, few studies have investigated the possibility of interactions between programs, and instead the correctional discourse has focused on assessing programs individually. However, it is likely that combinations of programs work together to affect offenders’ post-release performance in ways that cannot be predicted by the sum of their main effects alone. The current study uses logistic regression analysis to investigate the presence of interaction effects between custodial treatment programs in Canadian federal prison. It uses a population sample of 17,727 male offenders admitted to prison between January 1st, 2002 and December 31st, 2006, and released into the community on Day Parole or Statutory Release on or before December 31st, 2009. Findings of the study suggest that certain program combinations reduce the odds of post-release recidivism more than others, but effective programming differs depending on whether an offender has substance abuse needs. Furthermore, the number of successfully completed correctional programs raises an offender’s odds of post-release success, regardless of the content of the program.

Mitigating evidence is evidence that is presented during the sentencing phase of a trial and is meant to argue for leniency in sentencing. A new form of psycho-legal professional, called a mitigation specialist, is being relied upon more often to assemble the diverse array of psychosocial factors into coherent arguments for less severe sentences. Unfortunately, there is a lack of empirical evidence upon which such professionals can base their work. This is of particular concern in the context of sex offenses—where strong attitudes may overwhelm legal instruction. In collaboration with the Office of the Pima County Public Defender, the current investigation utilized 209 cases; half involving sex offenses, half involving violent non-sexual offenses, and half utilizing professional mitigation, half not utilizing professional mitigation, to better elucidate the effects of professional mitigation reports on sentences in cases involving sexual and violent nonsexual crime. Results revealed that the effectiveness of mitigation reports was heavily moderated by case type. While mitigating evidence was effective in reducing sentence length for violent nonsexual offenses, it had the opposite effect in the cases involving sex offenses. Psychological reports, however were effective in reducing sentence lengths for cases involving sex offenses. Individual mitigating factors and lexical characteristics (examined through Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software) did not show any consistent relationship with sentence length, suggesting that the effect of the mitigation reports as a whole cannot necessarily be discerned from its parts. Limitations, future directions, and possible implications for the practice of mitigation specialists are explored.

This case study evaluates the process of affirmative business development within a federal correctional psychiatric facility for federal offenders with mental illness serving long or indeterminate sentences. It examines how the business associates (i.e., offenders with mental illness who are self-employed in the affirmative business) change through working in the affirmative business, and what challenges and benefits they experience. The aim is to disseminate knowledge that will assist in developing supported employment opportunities for offenders with serious mental illness. Qualitative and participatory research methods are used to give a descriptive account of the experience of 14 business associates within a critical paradigm. The framework that guided this study included the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E); the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB); and a Community Economic Development (CED) approach. Strategies were incorporated to maintain rigor and ensure trustworthiness and quality of the findings. The data outlined the first 6 years of the affirmative business. Interviews and observations were conducted during year 7 and 8 of the affirmative business. Reviews of documents and artifacts were current and historical in nature. Three overlapping phases of business development, outreach, and replication are discussed along with their corresponding core tasks of skepticism, tensions of growth, and transformation. Within each phase, six overlapping themes emerge: business development; personal growth, recovery, and hope; ongoing support; the prison environment; volunteerism; and the community. Self-employment within the affirmative iii business emerges as having an encouraging effect on promoting empowerment and recovery, increasing self-reliance and self-efficacy, helping symptoms, learning new ways to resolve conflict, and improving understanding of employment support needs. / Thesis (Master, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-26 15:43:13.848