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.

Education is an ongoing process and it is never 'complete' in anyone's life. Sex education is relevant in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Botswana. The study was under taken to investigate the influence of sex education on the sexual behaviour of JSS learners. Adolescents today are faced with challenges and they need support to face these challenges. The study was guided by the following research objectives: What constitutes the nature and characteristics of sex education? What is the attitude of learners towards sex education? What is the effect of sex education on learners? And what strategies can be put in place to improve sex education? Three schools were purposely selected for the study. From the population of 1550 learners, 55 were sampled, from 145 teachers, 25 were sampled and from 75 parents 9 were sampled. The quantitative approach through survey method was used in collecting data through questionnaires. Qualitative approach was used to collect data. Interviews were recorded manually and later coded, grouped and finally analysed. The following findings were shown by the study. Sex education should be included in the curriculum. Sex education does influence the behaviour of learners. Sex education is an important aspect in one's life. Modern technology should be used for sex education. Trained personnel are required in schools. / Thesis (M.Ed) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

This study examined the relationship between sex, sex role and expression of depression. The Beck Depression Inventory, The Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Inventory of Depressive Behaviors were administered to 589 college students. Sex differences in the expression of depression were similar to the findings of previous studies. Sex role differences in the expression of depression were found. Masculine sex role was related to expressive coping strategies along with instrumental strategies. Feminine sex role was related to behavioral and cognitive coping along with more expressive behaviors. The variance in expression of depression accounted for by sex was only partially accounted for by sex role. Undifferentiated individuals were significantly more depressed than Masculine, Feminine or Androgynous individuals, but there were no differences between the latter three groups. Thus, either masculinity or femininity appears to be associated with lower levels of depression.

There is considerable responsibility on the clinician to identify sex offenders who may potentially commit more serious sexually violent behaviour and an increased demand for evidence based risk assessments (Macpherson, 1997; Thomas-Peter and Warren, 1998). Offenders who commit non-contact sexual crimes are traditionally classified as harmless despite the significant minority who escalate in offence severity towards more violent sexual offending. Forty convicted male sex offenders were classified as non-contact or contact sexual recidivists. Non-contact recidivists had a history of non-contact sexual offending on two or more occasions. Contact recidivists had a history of noncontact offending and had recidivated with a contact sexual offence. Groups were compared on the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20: Boer et al. 1997) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV: Hart et al. 1995). Psychosexual variables, criminal history and clinical risk factors were also coded using a multi-variable assessment model. A retrospective-prospective comparison successfully used by Quinsey et al. (1995) was performed between non-contact and contact recidivist groups. Factors that discriminated between non-contact recidivists and contact recidivists were primarily historical in nature, reflecting fixed or relatively stable characteristics. Significant differences between non-contact recidivists and contact recidivists were observed on total PCL: SV scores and psychosocial factors of the SVR-20 including sexual deviation, a history of childhood victimisation and past nonviolent offences. Contact recidivists were significantly younger than non-contact recidivists at first non-sexual offence and were significantly more likely to have a history of homosexual offending. A high level of interrater reliability on the SVR-20 and PCL: SV was observed. Suggested revisions to several iten1s of the SVR-20 and methodological considerations are reported. The research demonstrates that a progressive pattern of sexual offending from noncontact sexual offending to contact sexual offending is reliably associated with a combination of risk factors. The study offers the potential for early detection of a more serious escalation in sexual offending to allow for the possibility of supervision and clinical risk management.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Arts in Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects that a training module on sex bias and sex-role stereotyping in the counseling milieu would have upon attitudes toward women held by graduate counselor trainees. Attitudes of the experimental group were compared with attitudes of control subjects who received no treatment.The research was planned to answer two questions:(1) Is there a significant difference in attitudes toward between an experimental group who received the training module and a control group who did not receive the module?(2) Is there a significant difference between attitudes expressed by male subjects and attitudes expressed by female subjects?Twenty-eight male and twenty-seven female graduate students enrolled in counselor education courses with Ball State University-Europe were assigned randomly on the basis of sex to either the experimental or control group. All of the subjects were actively pursuing degree programs 1n counseling.The experimental group received a module which consisted of five phases: introduction, relaxation/fantasy, role-playing, women integration/generalization, and summary. The module was designed to help counselor trainees understand how sex bias and sex-role stereotyping influence the counseling relationship. The no-treatment control subjects attended their regularly scheduled classes.All volunteer counselor trainees completed the short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp, 1973) one week after the experimental group received the module. The Attitudes toward Women Scale originally was developed by Spence and Helmreich (1972) as an objective paper and pencil instrument and has frequently been used to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women.Statistical processing of the data consisted of a two-way analysis of variance method of unweighted means. The F ratio was computed at the p<.05 level of confidence between (a) experimental and control groups, and (b) males and females using group mean scores on the short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the obtained dependent variable scores. There was a significant difference for the moderator variable sex of subject. Male counselor trainees scored significantly lower or more "traditional" in their attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in society than did the female counselor trainees.The results were discussed in terms of the difficulty in achieving change in attitudes with short-term interventions, the need for long-term follow-up, and recommendations for future research.

A RESEARCH REPORT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK SCHOOL OF HUMAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND JOHANNESBURG IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE MASTERS OF ARTS IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MARCH, 2016 / The cases of children involved in criminal activities are on the increase all over the world, including in South Africa. Offering services to all children and youth, whilst upholding the rights of children, is one of the fields of practice in social work. South Africa has adopted a restorative approach that aims to rehabilitate and return children in conflict with the law back into their communities. At the heart of applying restorative approaches as intervention with children in conflict with the law are social workers. The study attempts to explore the experiences of social workers regarding their intervention strategies with young sexual offenders. The study applied a qualitative approach and narrative research design. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 12 research participants from organisations that facilitate diversion programmes for child sex offenders. To ensure trustworthiness of the research, three prosecutors were also interviewed. Semi-structured interview schedules were utilised to conduct in-depth telephonic interviews with the participants. The data was transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. The main finding which emerged from the study was that social workers’ challenges with diversion are mainly associated with external factors such as poor parental co-operation. The study concludes that diversion contributes to reducing the level of recidivism with child sex offenders and is a necessary form of intervention for children in conflict with the law. Key words: Children in conflict with the law, Diversion, Rehabilitation, Sexual offences, Child sex offenders, Social workers.

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These short stories deal with young boys and men who raise themselves in the absence of proper parenting. In particular, they wrestle with big questions about the family unit, sex, and love.

No description available.