Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study investigated the relationship between experiences of childhood maltreatment, family functioning, problem-solving style, and criminal offending. Participants (N = 120) were all male and classified as violent (V), non-violent (NV), or non-offenders (NO) based on their criminal histories. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS), Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were administered to all participants. Results suggest that V's reported significantly more maltreatment compared to NO's. V's came from the least healthy families while NO's came from the healthiest families. Finally, V's were more likely to use an impulsive approach and less likely to use a rational approach to solving problems than NO's. Experiences of physical neglect discriminated the groups. This study also discovered previously ignored correlations between these variables within each of the three groups and implications of these new findings are discussed.

Researchers, clinicians, theorists, and policy makers have embraced a variety of etiological explanations in their attempts to understand sexually deviant behaviors. Here, the major etiological models of sex offending are described and analyzed. This discussion includes both single faceted theories - biological, cognitive, behavioral, social learning, personality, and evolutionary theories - as well as multi-faceted or integrated theories - Finkelhor's Precondition Model, Marshall and Barbaree's Integrated Theory, Hall and Hirschman's Quadripartite Model, Malamuth's Confluence Model, and Ward and Siegert's Pathways Model. In addition, a new integrative theory of sexual deviance is introduced. The Multi-Model Self-Regulation Theory includes components of developmental, behavioral, cognitive, and personality research. Relevant empirical findings are presented, and fictional case studies are also provided to demonstrate how this theory would be applied in the explanation of sexual deviance. This work concludes with a discussion of empirical support for the Multi-Modal Self-Regulation Theory as well as future directions for research, prevention, and treatment.In Appendix B, an empirical study of the core components of the Multi-Modal Self-Regulation Theory is included. In this study, dysregulation is examined as a key variable in the development of paraphilias, antisocial behaviors, and disordered substance use in a sample of 95 sex offending men. Results from a causal path analysis demonstrate that dysregulation, as defined by difficulties with emotional regulation, significantly and causally predict both paraphilic and antisocial behaviors. Implications for cognitive and personality variables are also discussed.

Research has indicated that there is a worldwide increase in the numbers of sexual offenders brought before court in the last two decades as well as an increase in recidivism after imprisonment of sexual offenders. It was found that imprisonment is not the only effective sentence option for sexual offenders and that there are certain categories of sexual offenders that can be rehabilitated more effectively within the community while serving a community-based sentence like correctional supervision. Research has also shown that the risk of re-offending can be decreased by such a sentence. In order for courts to consider correctional supervision as sentence for certain sexual offenders they request pre-sentence assessment reports from social workers to assist them to determine the suitable offenders for this sentence option. The court has certain expectations from social workers in terms of these pre-sentence assessments that are not always met. Amongst other factors, this is caused by the difference in approach between social workers and judicial officials as well as the different goals each profession has in terms of sexual offenders. The problems and needs of social workers with the pre-sentence assessment of sexual offenders were explored in this study as well as the expectations and problems of judicial officials in this regard. Social workers indicated that they lack certain skills, knowledge and confidence as well as professional support and resources to compile effective pre-sentence reports. Judicial officials expect more intensive and comprehensive assessments that focus on the determination of risk of re-offending and the risk to the community. In order to address the problems and needs of both the social workers and judicial officials, suggestions for the improvement of co-operation and understanding of the two different approaches were made as well as guidelines for social workers, trainers and supervisors to enable social workers to present more effective pre-sentence assessments to courts. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Moral habilitation is the intentional and directed shaping of a new subjectivity in accordance with a culturally sanctioned, pro-social standard of daily ethical conduct. Treatment programs for sexual offenders are enterprises in moral habilitation that involve instilling participants with new values, beliefs, and practices. This research represents a person-centred ethnography that combined concepts of morality, stigma, selfhood, and agency with the treatment and community (re)integration of sexual offenders to learn how some of these men narrated their transformations from dysfunction to a state of self-regulation and greater wellbeing. To this end, 18 men of Euro-Canadian or Aboriginal ancestry living in western Canada were interviewed about their experiences in sexual offender treatment programs, their transitions from prison to community life, and their changing self-concepts. In this transition, participants described their motivations to change as derived from their experiences of (a) a stigmatized, unfulfilling life, (b) the desire for a better or “normal” life, (c) social supports, and (d) a determined and willful mindset. They adopted multiple narrative strategies to protect their self-concepts while the progression of time and ethical self-reformation facilitated a transition from shame and self-doubt to self-acceptance. Through this research, I propose a model of Ethical Self-Reformation (ESR) that combines the institutional morality of treatment programs with stigmatizing public moral discourses to individuals’ enactments of agency, will, and motivation to sustain what is in effect amoral enterprise. Moral habilitation is conceptualized as the internalized, automatic responses of an embodied morality as practiced through the ESR model. This research concludes that sexual offender treatment programs can effectively lead to moral habilitation if the offender is willing to submit to the process; but it also advises that programs need to be more individualized if treatment responsivity is to be enhanced.

Individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) are more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system than individuals without FASD. Research shows that individuals with FASD are unable to learn from standard methods of punishment, such as incarceration. The objective of this research was to determine how young offenders with an FASD diagnosis differ from young offenders without a diagnosis in order to inform sentencing and treatment options for FASD offenders. Using a pre-existing database of court-referred young offenders, the data of 197 youths were compared. Eighty-six young offenders in this sample were diagnosed with FASD. Information was available on a number of neurocognitive variables, such as cognition, memory, attention, achievement, and language, as well as social data, such as substance use, assistance in school, home stability, and criminal charges. Profile analysis was run on the neurocognitive data for young offenders with and without FASD. The social data were analyzed using a combination of correlation and one-way ANOVAs. Young offenders with FASD differed from young offenders without FASD on severity of impairment on the neurocognitive measures, with individuals with FASD scoring lower that the comparison group. There was no difference in the profile of neurocognitive deficiency between the groups, suggesting that young offenders with FASD have the same profile of impairments as other young offenders but to a more severe degree. There were not found to be any strong or moderate associations between the types of charges accrued and any neurocognitive measure, indicating that deficits likely do not directly lead to offending. Home stability between birth and age seven was particularly important as a protective factor for future crime, and having ever been in foster care was strongly related to number of charges. Current substance use of all kinds was associated with a higher number of charges. Youth with FASD are likely more at risk for criminal behaviour due to lower overall neurocognitive functioning, poor environmental stability, and an interaction of the two. Programs for people with FASD will be required throughout the life span and current correctional programs have yet to be developed for offenders with FASD.

Research has indicated that there is a worldwide increase in the numbers of sexual offenders brought before court in the last two decades as well as an increase in recidivism after imprisonment of sexual offenders. It was found that imprisonment is not the only effective sentence option for sexual offenders and that there are certain categories of sexual offenders that can be rehabilitated more effectively within the community while serving a community-based sentence like correctional supervision. Research has also shown that the risk of re-offending can be decreased by such a sentence. In order for courts to consider correctional supervision as sentence for certain sexual offenders they request pre-sentence assessment reports from social workers to assist them to determine the suitable offenders for this sentence option. The court has certain expectations from social workers in terms of these pre-sentence assessments that are not always met. Amongst other factors, this is caused by the difference in approach between social workers and judicial officials as well as the different goals each profession has in terms of sexual offenders. The problems and needs of social workers with the pre-sentence assessment of sexual offenders were explored in this study as well as the expectations and problems of judicial officials in this regard. Social workers indicated that they lack certain skills, knowledge and confidence as well as professional support and resources to compile effective pre-sentence reports. Judicial officials expect more intensive and comprehensive assessments that focus on the determination of risk of re-offending and the risk to the community. In order to address the problems and needs of both the social workers and judicial officials, suggestions for the improvement of co-operation and understanding of the two different approaches were made as well as guidelines for social workers, trainers and supervisors to enable social workers to present more effective pre-sentence assessments to courts. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

It has been well established that fear of crime is, at least in part, influenced by the media. Past research has shown that escalation of fear in many Western societies has resulted from increased media coverage of crime. Despite the diversity of media outlets, a common discourse emergescriminal behaviour is a product of bad people, from poor neighbourhoods, preying on innocent and undeserving victims. Critical approaches to the study of media show crime reporting as a political act, involving deepening stereotypes and Othering of marginalized people based on their age, race, and gender. Missing from the literature is a detailed portrait of the nature of media representations of crime and how it may shift over time. The goal of my research is to fill this gap by analyzing how differences between offenders and victims’ race, age, and gender as described in newspaper crime reports significantly impact the probability that these articles would contain language promoting a discourse of fear and marginalization. A combination of critical theoriesincluding critical criminology, feminism, postcolonial theory, and critical discourse analysisare used to develop themes related to media representations of gender, race, and language. Because race, gender, and age in the context of crime cannot be extracted from class, discussions of class also appear throughout the thesis. Four newspapersthe Vancouver Sun, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Winnipeg Free Press, and the Toronto Starwere examined over a span of thirty years through a mixed methods approach combining content and critical discourse analyses. A total of 480 newspapers and 1, 190 crime articles constituted the empirical sample for this research. Two themesfear and marginalizationas well as twelve subthemes emerge from the empirical and theoretical literature. The research results show that differences in language can be observed in Canadian crime reports based on mentions of race, age, and gender of both the offenders and victims. Throughout all thirty years, articles indicated that crimes against white victims used fearful language, while visible minority victims were blamed for their victimization. White offenders were disproportionately criminalized and dehumanized with depictions that frequently undermined their claim to normal membership of their racial group through extraordinary character defect. Visible minority offenders were linked to poverty. Portrayals of female offenders accurately depicted them as generally low risk; both female offenders and female victims were treated in a largely equal manner. Women offenders were dichotomized into sexualized bad girls or malicious black widows. Female victims were either depicted as bad victims (i.e. racialized victims) who were blamed for their circumstances, or good victims who garnered sympathy through negative portrayals of their offenders. Young offenders and victims were often linked to gang activity, and language regarding them contained a mix of both fear and marginalization. The dissertation concludes by providing support to the critical paradigms with which it engages, demonstrating the need to include an analysis of critical criminology, race, gender, and a deconstruction of language. The study directs our attention to the necessity for further research on the benefits of educational programs for both those disseminating the discourse of crime and those consuming it.

No description available.