A considerable amount of research focuses on the detrimental influence that relationships pose for women offenders while relatively little attention has been given to the potential positive impact of relationships in their lives. This study investigates how women offenders' positive relationships work as 'buffers' against their criminal involvement, as well as why some positive influences do not elicit long-term change in women. We examine various forms of relationships (both romantic and non-romantic) that female offenders develop and explore the mechanisms by which these relationships might influence their behavior. Life history interviews conducted with 60 incarcerated women revealed that women's family members, friends, significant others, and children provided support, social capital, motivation, and opportunities which can buffer women from criminal behavior, but that women's drug use, disadvantage, interest in, pride or shame, and desire to make positive changes limited the effectiveness of these relationships.

A considerable amount of research focuses on the detrimental influence that relationships pose for women offenders while relatively little attention has been given to the potential positive impact of relationships in their lives. This study investigates how women offenders' positive relationships work as 'buffers' against their criminal involvement, as well as why some positive influences do not elicit long-term change in women. We examine various forms of relationships (both romantic and non-romantic) that female offenders develop and explore the mechanisms by which these relationships might influence their behavior. Life history interviews conducted with 60 incarcerated women revealed that women's family members, friends, significant others, and children provided support, social capital, motivation, and opportunities which can buffer women from criminal behavior, but that women's drug use, disadvantage, interest in, pride or shame, and desire to make positive changes limited the effectiveness of these relationships.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. (Community Psychology) degree in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009. / The researcher developed an ubuntu re-cultivation programme, titled "the Enhancement of Interpersonal Effectiveness" (EIE), for reducing aggressive antisocial behaviour through education and training workshop sessions that encourage participatory learning. The programme was applied on 16 incarcerated male indigenous African offenders in a maximum security prison. The participants ranged in age between 26 and 40 years (mean=3I.I years) and their education stretched from Grade 7 to 12 (mean Grade 10.2). Residential accommodation split the participants into two groups of 9 and 7, which made their facilitation manageable. Baseline performances of participants were established on the Carlson Psychological Survey (CPS) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). The profiles of the CPS showed that the participants had entrenched antisocial behaviour lifestyles and manifestations of feelings of ill-health which included anxiety and depression. The AQ revealed tendencies towards high levels of aggression, anger and hostility. Four, one hourly EIE intervention sessions, were administered per week for six weeks. Post-intervention profile analyses of the AQ revealed significant reductions in 10 of the 16 participants. The reductions occurred in an average of two of the following 5 AQ components: anger, hostility, physical aggression, verbal aggression and indirect aggression. There were also reductions of antisocial ideation on the CPS of half of the participants. The CPS profiles also showed remission of anxiety and depression in 10 participants. The EIE Examination Assignment and the Programme Evaluation Questionnaire indicated that the majority of participants increased their knowledge and skills for constructive social relationships. The findings support the recommendation for the inclusion of EIE as a regular psychological education and training programme for male indigenous African offenders in the correctional centre and other correctional centres with a climate conducive for learning and development.

This project was conceived at the Psychiatric Security Unit of Oregon State Hospital in 1968-69. The purpose of the study-was to develop a fund of knowledge concerning the Oregon "sexually dangerous" and to emphasize those elements of the subject which require more sophisticated research. It was undertaken with the hope that the information provided would prove of value to the professional and layman in their understanding of sexual offenses against children. The study plan, designed around an investigation of sexual offender characteristics, was submitted to the administrator of Oregon State Hospital, and permission was granted to examine clinical histories of the 81 sexual offenders who had been committed under Oregon Sexual Psychopath Statutes from September 1963, to May 1969. The study design was exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory elements were reflected in the effort to increase the student's familiarity with the subject of child molestation. Description was directed toward a presentation of data in succinct form which would be suitable to later refinement. A schedule of items was developed which included three main areas of inquiry: characteristics of (1) the offender, (2) the victim, (3) the offense. Appropriate sub-items rounded out the instrument. No explicit hypotheses were posed; however, two underlying guiding hypotheses were implicit: (1) Oregon offenders would be similar to other sexual offenders; (2) the traditional view of sexual offenders is unsupported by scientific investigation. Data was compiled over a three - month period and statistics were recorded in tabular form. A breakdown of offender types was employed for clarity. Findings related to the offender indicated a bi-modal distribution of age with the greatest number in the 20 - 29 age class interval and a rather high percentage over 50. All were white males and as many were married as were single. Their educational level was slightly lower than the general population and most did manual work. Social and employment adjustment was manifestly poor. Their psychiatric condition at the time of the current commitment included disorders of the personality for the most part. Many of the offenders had been, discharged at the time of the study; however, there were a substantial number of long-term cases continuing. Victims were predominantly in the 8 ~ 11 age class interval which is comparable with similar studies., The Oregon group .involved higher number of multiple victims than is usually found However, offender-victim relationship was comparable to most offender samples. The concept that a stranger plays a minor role in sexual offenses was not clearly supported by the study. Offenders were not particularly recidivistic prior to the current offense, and none have repeated f0llowing discharge. Contrary to the notion of violent threatening behavior on the part of the offender, findings indicated a very low frequency/with most acts consisting of immature sexual gratification. Victim behavior was not often resistive, mostly consensual, and occasionally inviting. Offenses occurred most frequently in a residence. Duration of the offense was more often single occurrence except in the incest group. Intoxication was present in a minority of offenses but played a major role in certain types of offense. Implications for further research suggest the need for additional empirical studies which will explore the interrelated factors among characteristic items and experimental studies designed to assess the effectiveness of treatment methods.

This paper explores the relationship between the Tennessee sex offender registry and suicidality. The research looks at the registry as a factor in suicidality among offenders by identifying cause of death of offenders on the Tennessee registry between 2011 and 2016. An Internet search engine was used to determine causes of death from a list of offenders from the TBI, which included 434 men and women who died while registered. Findings and implications for intervention and policy will be discussed.

Trauma-informed care (TIC) incorporates evidence about the prevalence and impact of early trauma on behavior across the lifespan. TIC is a person-centered response that focuses on improving client functioning by viewing and responding to maladaptive behavior in the context of traumatic experiences. TIC is grounded in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, a collaborative research project between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013a). The ACE study began in 1997 to collect information (n=17,337) via a 10-item survey about adverse childhood experiences related to abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), neglect (emotional and physical), and household dysfunction (domestic violence, divorce, death of a parent, or the presence of a substance-abusing, mentally ill, or incarcerated member in the household). The ACE score reflects the total number of adverse experiences endorsed by that individual. Dozens of publications analyzing ACE data have revealed staggering evidence of the pervasive and enduring nature of early trauma. Findings are clear and consistent, demonstrating that as the number of early adverse experiences increases, the risk for myriad health, mental health, and behavioral problems in adulthood also increases in a robust and cumulative fashion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013b). For example, as ACE scores increase, so does the likelihood of alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, suicide attempts, fetal death, obesity, heart disease, liver disease, intimate partner violence, early initiation of sexual activity, multiple sexual partners, sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancies. Furthermore, childhood adversity is associated with adult criminality, including sexual offending; sex offenders report significantly higher ACE scores than the general population (Reavis, Looman, Franco, & Rojas, 2013). Reavis et al. (2013) opined that it is therefore unsurprising that offense-specific models of sex offender treatment have produced mixed results in terms of effectiveness, and suggested that treatment programs should more strongly emphasize the role of early trauma on self-regulation and attachment. This 90-minute workshop will first provide an overview of the principles of trauma informed care. Participants will learn about the various ways that early trauma lays the groundwork for a range of interpersonal problems and maladaptive coping skills stemming from longstanding relational deficits and distorted cognitive schema about oneself and others. Then, workshop participants will learn to incorporate an interpersonal process approach to sex offender treatment, which combines elements of developmental, family systems, and cognitive models to conceptualize adult client behavior in the context of childhood trauma (Teyber & McClure, 2011). Participants will learn how to establish a nonthreatening sex offender treatment environment that facilitates trust, emotional safety, and intimacy. Participants will learn to utilize immediacy interventions to create corrective experiences; when clinicians respond effectively to relational themes and patterns as they present themselves in individual and group therapy, client skills can be enhanced, practiced, and reinforced. This workshop will reflect the conference theme of "Shouldering Responsibility: Making Society Safer" by introducing an innovative model and framework for promoting change. TIC recognizes the role of traumatic events in the development of high-risk behavior and values the subjectivity of trauma as a central function in the healing process. By exploring and understanding maladaptive and abusive behavior through the lens of early trauma, clinicians can help sex offender clients learn and generalize new skills, enhance their interpersonal relationships, and improve their general well-being (Teyber & McClure, 2011). This type of personal growth would be expected to mitigate future potential to reoffend as the client incorporates more healthy and successful strategies for relating to others and meeting emotional needs.

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As previous research has indicated, it is not a common societal norm that sex offenders generally have a negative connotation associated with them. These types of perceptions are held without considering the varying types of sexual offenders and sexual offenses. The legislation concerning sex offenders is broad, and therefore encompasses a lot of different offenses and people. Notification of these types of offenders varies by state, but all states require sex offenders to register. A number of colleges also require sex offenders to register before attending classes. This research focuses on student's perception of sex offenders on college campuses. That is, it questions how a student's awareness of sex offender legislation and presence affect their attitudes and perceptions about sex offenders. This thesis was intended to research the UCF student's awareness of sex offenders (legislation and presence) in relation how it effects their perception of sex offenders. Students were surveyed and asked questions based on their knowledge, awareness, and opinion of sex offenders in general and at the college level. Results collected suggested that informing students does make them more aware of sex offenders. However, the heightened awareness does not improve the negative perception student's held about sex offenders. After conducting the study, it is my hope that it will aid in better understanding student perceptions of sex offenders in terms of how effective notification and awareness are.

Conceptual work on the study of crime argues the need for new approaches to understanding the incidence and etiology of that social phenomenon. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the explanatory power of the deprivation-compensation model of criminality. This new model of crime commission incorporates two social psycholoical constructs - relative deprivation and limited rationality - which partially mediate the relationship between structural and interpersonal deprivation and the type of crime committed. In this research, I focus exclusively on women offenders. A two-part questionnaire was administered to 112 women inmates at three state correctional facilities located in Illinois. A personal history inventory provided basic demographic and crime-related information. Part two was comprised of items tapping relative deprivation and limited rationality. The proposed model received only minimal support. A consistent finding was the weak influence that structural and interpersonal deprivation had on the type of crime committed by women offenders; however, the path coefficients for both of these constructs to relative deprivation were statistically significant. Relative deprivation and limited rationality shared a statistically significant relationship to the type of crime committed by women offenders. Several alternative explanations for the findings are offered. Finally, a number of suggestions for the conduct of future research using relative deprivation and limited rationality are outlined. / Ph. D.