Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Title on thesis acceptance page: Individual, family, and social characteristics of adolescent child molesters. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-116). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ67927.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study was conceptualised to explore the life experiences of adolescent sex offenders with the aim of obtaining insight into factors that contributed to their sexually offensive behaviour, especially those factors within the context of the family. The study was approached from an ecosystemic perspective to probe circumstances within and outside the family that may have had an impact on the functioning of the family. The research was characterised by qualitative research methodology. A predominant feature that emerged in the study was the exposure of the adolescent to abusive situations. However, this was not the only contributory factor to sexual offending and had to be seen in the context of the adolescents' ability to cope with the abuse. The characteristics of the individual and familial factors were identified. The study reflected the complex and compelling situations of the adolescent offender. The process of data collation was a comprehensive, intensive process. The sensitivity of the issue required the development of a trusting, long-term relationship to ensure the gradual disclosure of intimate information about the self and family. Data was obtained through 25 case studies, all of which were male, as male sexual offenders constitute the dominant population at Childline Family Centre, KwaZulu-Natal. The adolescent, family members and other referral sources of information were interviewed to compile the in-depth and rich information obtained in the analysis. The therapeutic group, which all the adolescent offenders were involved in, was also used as a context for data gathering. Data were thus obtained over an extended period of time. The QSR NUD*IST software programme was used as a tool to analyse the large quantity of data that the interviews yielded. It is based upon these insights that recommendations were made for the way forward. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This discursive study, investigates the role of discourse in the creation of denial and the unconscious in adolescent sexual offenders. It also attempts to illustrate that the denial expressed by the adolescent sexual offenders towards their abuse event, in fact reflects a collective societal dialogic unconscious, as evidenced in legal, social and psychological discourses, towards sexual abuse. The scarcity of local literature in this field and the increasing number of young offenders, provides the motivation for the research. A conversational analysis, as extended by Michael Billig, revealed that the seven adolescent sexual offenders interviewed for this study all oscillated between discourses of denial and acknowledgement. The ideological consequences of an acknowledgement position bear the potential for shame and ostracism from family, peers and the community. The adolescents therefore drew on different and often inconsistent and varying rhetorical resources, in order that they could construct their accounts of the abuse event as morally appropriate, in order to remain on the moral high-ground within the conversational setting of the study. A complex code of absences were also noted in the discourses. These silences frequently contained the abusive event, and created a context in which the discourses of contradiction and disclaiming accounts could function and enabled the adolescents to constructs themselves as morally polite. Finally, I illustrated that the ambiguity and ambivalence expressed by the adolescents, is reflected in a collective denial within society. The accounts presented by the adolescents were a construct of our culture's ambiguous and ambivalent attitude towards violence and sexually abusive events against children and women. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

This study examined the relationship between attachment and adolescent sex abusers through a literature review. Due to the dearth of literature on this subject, separate literature reviews were conducted on attachment theory and on predisposing factors to adolescent sex abusing. The results indicated that a causal relationship between attachment and the development of adolescent sex abusers is unlikely; however, insecure attachment styles were found to be one of many factors related to adolescent sex abusing. Theories related to emotional stress, the developmental stage of adolescence, intergenerational transmission and sibling incest were generated within the theoretical context of attachment. A typology was constructed that suggests how different attachment styles may be associated with various types of adolescent sex abusers. Implications for primary prevention, treatment interventions and research were discussed.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-96). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-114). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on July 29, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-100). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-100). Also available on the Internet.