NCJ Number
208092
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 299-314
Date Published
October 2004
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether the five implicit theories (IT’s) of rapists proposed by Polaschek and Ward are congruent with the main themes articulated by rapists in descriptions of their offenses.
Abstract
Previous research into the cognitive distortions of sexual offenders has primarily focused on measuring these distortions rather than on exploring their underlying structures. 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 theories, as they are called, enable both justifications of the offense as well as predictions of future behavior. In 2002, Polascheck and Ward outlined five core implicit theories of rapists: (1) women are unknowable; (2) woman are sex objects; (3) male sex drive is uncontrollable; (4) entitlement; and (5) dangerous world. The current study examined the degree of congruency between these five IT’s and the main themes discussed by rapists in descriptions of their own offenses. Participants were 37 adult males serving prison sentences for the sexual violation of a person older than 16 years. Offense process descriptions and detailed descriptions of the rapists’ perspectives were gathered through personal interviews. The data were coded for the presence or absence of each of the five IT’s. Results both supported and extended Polaschek and Ward’s IT theory. Three of the IT’s were especially prevalent in the accounts offered by the rapists, appearing in two-thirds of the interviews: women are dangerous, women are sex objects, and entitlement. Future research should seek to replicate these findings using actual attitudinal material generated by offenders themselves. Tables, references