NCJ Number
208094
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 333-350
Date Published
October 2004
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study developed and tested a theory of sexual offender implicit cognitive distortions.
Abstract
Theories that attempt to explain the motivations for sexual offending have generally suffered from a lack of supporting empirical data. Recent research has indicated that offenders may have underlying theories about how the world works, about themselves, their victims, and broader categories of people. These implicit cognitive distortions enable both justifications of the offense as well as predictions of future behavior. The current study adapted the Greenwald measurement method to test three sets of hypotheses concerning sexual offenders’ cognitive distortions informed by Ward’s (2000) semantic-motivation hypothesis of sexual offender implicit cognitions. Implicit association tests examined the existence of three hypothesized child sexual offender implicit cognitive distortions: (1) children as sexual beings; (2) uncontrollability of sexuality; and (3) sexual entitlement-bias. Results of the implicit association tests revealed that child sexual offenders had greater implicit association effects than did other offenders and both male and female nonoffenders for two distortions: children as sexual beings and uncontrollability of sexuality. Child offenders also had greater implicit association effects for the sexual entitlement-bias distortion than both female and male nonoffenders. Future research should focus on formulating theoretical predictions about the sexual-self as it affects treatment options. Figures, tables, references