Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-128). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Bibliography: p. 85-101.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-143).

Although there is an increasing amount of literature on child sexual abuse, there is a dearth of information on the experiences of non-offending fathers of sexually abused children. Uncovering the issues that these fathers encounter after learning about the abuse of their children is essential in designing a therapeutic framework to help these men and their families. This qualitative study explored the experiences of four non-offending fathers of sexually abused children. Each subject was interviewed on video tape for approximately one hour using a general interview guide. The results were categorized into four areas: initial reaction to disclosure, changes in relationships, self issues, the recovery process. Two general themes emerged from these categories: disruption in the father's role as protector and the process of regaining a sense of normalcy. These findings point to the importance of including non-offending fathers in the treatment plans of counselling agencies working with victims of child sexual abuse. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The approach behaviors of 107 incarcerated child molesters at Atascadero State Hospital in California were examined through the use of an interview protocol and a 49-question questionnaire developed from the interview findings. The goal was to develop a data base for a molestation prevention program directed toward children. Results suggest that the sampled molesters were oriented to behaviors that commonly occur in friendship formation, including focusing attention on the child and his/her interests and attributes. These findings suggest that an effective prevention program could be very difficult to develop.

This study compared one group of pedophiles, two groups of incestuous fathers, and two groups of incestuous stepfathers on their individual MMPI scale scores and self-reported demographic data. Past research on sex offenders has shown that patterns of variables are better indicators of offender typology than single variables. A nonrandom sample of male abusers (N=177) was drawn from two separate sources, a clinic that screens offenders for treatment disposition and an unrelated outpatient treatment clinic in the Portland, Oregon area. Scores from the 13 MMPI scales as well as data from 17 demographic variables were drawn from clinic interviews and intake records of the offenders. The demographic data included age of the offender, educational level, age at first marriage, number of marriages, number of juvenile and adult arrests, number of jobs, number of past inpatient treatment periods, outpatient treatment periods, and incarcerations, alcohol consumption level, recreational drug usage, adoption status, and incidence of foster care, physical, and sexual abuse. Of these variables, several are susceptible to error in self-report, especially alcohol consumption level, which may be subject to the usefulness of a particular report to the offender. Hence, one statistical analysis was made eliminating alcohol consumption level as a variable.

The MMPI has been used extensively for the clinical assessment of deviancy among sexual offenders. In order to derive a diagnostic scale for the specific identification of male incest offenders, an item analysis, using MMPI data from offenders, compared MMPI data from a nonoffending control sample. The item analysis results were cross validated with MMPI data from a separate sample of incest offenders. Eleven MMPI items were found to be critical in discriminating male incest offenders from nonoffenders, and these items comprise the Ic experimental scale. On the basis of the Ic scale, male incest offenders evidence characterological disturbances in the form of pervasive feelings of psychological and social inadequacy.

No description available.

Terapeutiese hulpverlening aan die seksueel gemolesteerde kind binne gesinsverband vanuit 'n Sielkundige Opvoedkundige perspektief is in hierdie studie onderneem. 'n Oorsig oor seksuele kindermolestering binne gesinsverband het getoon dat dit reeds vanaf die vroegste tye voorgekom het en tans kommerwekkende afmetings aanneem in die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, sonder dat die opvoedkundige sielkundige as lid van 'n multi-professionele span betrek word by terapeutiese hulpverlening. 'n Beskrywing van seksuele kindermolestering binne gesinsverband het getoon dat seksuele kindermolestering verskeie vorme aanneem en dat die oortreders daarvoor verantwoordelik is dat ouerskap en gesinstrukture ontoereikend verwerklik word. Dit bied aan die opvoedkundige sielkundige die moontlikheid om vanwee sy toeganklikheid en professionele deskundigheid as lid van 'n multiprofessionele span toereikend terapeutiese hulp te verleen aan die seksueel gemolesteerde kind. Terapeutiese hulpverlening aan die seksueel gemolesteerde kind binne gesinsverband is onderneem vanuit 'n Sielkundige Opvoedkundige benadering met relasie terapie as wyse van hulpverlening / This study investigates therapeutic aid to the child who is sexually abused by a family member, from the viewpoint of Psychology of Education. An overview of sexual abuse of children in the family context indicates a long history of occurence and present statistics show an alarming increase in reported cases with educational psychologists seldom being included in a multi-discipl inary thera-peutic team. A description of sexual abuse of children in the family context suggests that this may take different forms and the perpetrators are responsible for the breakdown in parenting and family structures. Educational psychologists are, because of their professional expertise and accessibility, able to offer thera-peutic aid to the sexually abused child as a member of a multi-professional team. Therapeutic aid to the sexually abused child in the family context is undertaken with Relationship Therapy as a medium of aid / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

The sexual abuse of children is an issue that society must address with urgency and commitment, given the profoundly damaging effects and widespread occurrence of this kind of crime. Providing psychological treatment to identified offenders is an important endeavour of the criminal justice system, with the aim of reducing recidivism and thereby preventing future victims. This dissertation explores a number of areas relevant to the treatment of sexual offenders on a sample of 223 adult males who completed a prison-based programme for child sexual offenders in New Zealand. Specifically, the assessment of treatment outcome and its relationship with recidivism, risk assessment, and the influence of specific offender factors on estimates of treatment outcome and risk were investigated. Study 1 (N = 218) is an independent validation of the validity of the Violence Risk Scale: Sexual Offender Version (VRS:SO; Olver, Wong, Nicholaichuk, & Gordon, 2007), a recently developed risk assessment instrument for sexual offenders that incorporates both static and dynamic risk factors and contains protocols for the assessment of change as a result of treatment. Results indicate support for the inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity, and predictive validity of the VRS:SO with regard to sexual recidivism, with pre-treatment and post-treatment scores showing superior predictive validity relative to a widely used measure of static risk (Static-99; Hanson & Thornton, 1999) and a measure of "Deviance" based on a 4-factor battery of relevant psychometric tests (Allan, Grace, Rutherford, & Hudson, 2007). In Study 2 (N = 218), three separate methods of assessing proximal treatment outcome (representative of three categories of treatment outcome measures that have previously been applied in the literature) are applied and compared in terms of their predictive validity with regard to sexual recidivism, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of their use. These measures are: change on a battery of relevant psychometric tests administered prior to and following treatment; change across treatment on the VRS:SO; and post-treatment ratings of the attainment of treatment goals as measured by a modified version of Hogue’s (1994) Standard Goal Attainment Scaling for Sexual Offenders (SGAS). Results indicate that positive treatment outcomes as measured by all of these methods are associated with reduced sexual recidivism. SGAS scores are identified as being relatively simple and efficient to obtain, however the VRS:SO and the psychometric battery are both able to provide useful pre-treatment clinical information regarding potential treatment targets for a particular offender. Study 3 (N = 223) and Study 4 (N = 216) are explorations of the influence of particular offender characteristics on response to treatment and risk of recidivism. Of particular interest was the personality construct of psychopathy (measured using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, PCL-R; Hare, 1991), and both studies are attempted replications and extensions of previously reported interaction effects involving this construct (Heilbrun, 1979; Seto & Barbaree, 1999). The results of Study 3 indicate that there is no interaction effect between PCL-R scores and treatment outcome (as measured by the SGAS) on sexual recidivism, in contrast to an influential study by Seto and Barbaree (1999). Study 4 reports an interaction effect between PCL-R scores and intelligence on recidivism, such that higher than average IQ scores appear to moderate the well-known association between psychopathy and risk. Overall, the findings reported in this dissertation suggest the importance of considering dynamic factors as well as static factors in sex offender risk assessments, and support the premise that dynamic factors are changeable, with change being associated with changes in recidivism. The potential for certain offender characteristics to influence treatment response and risk of recidivism is highlighted, and several areas for further exploration are identified.