NCJ Number
216343
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: 2006 Pages: 37-58
Date Published
2006
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study utilized concept mapping to investigate what professionals working with sex offenders found rewarding about their work.
Abstract
Even in the face of arguably one of the most difficult client populations to work with, professionals appear to be well able to find a sense of meaning and reward from their work that serves to enrich and motivate them to continue to treat sex offenders. The concept map generated by the participants in this study identified seven distinct themes of what professionals providing services to sex offenders found rewarding (protection of potential victims, socially meaningful curiosity, enjoyment of counseling, professional benefits, connection to colleagues, offender change and wellness, and offending-specific change). Professionals providing services to sex offenders may be at increased risk for a variety of negative effects. To date, there is no published research that has directly examined the sense of reward professionals working with sex offenders experience from their clinical practice. To investigate what professionals working with offenders find rewarding about their work, this study surveyed a sample of professionals presently working exclusively with sex offenders in Canada. Eighty-two professionals responded to an open-ended question about the rewards of their work and then using concept mapping had them identify the categories that comprised their experience. Concept mapping is a research method that combines qualitative and quantitative research strategies and involves research participants in generating items and gathering data. As participants in a concept mapping investigation sort the meaning units, investigator bias is reduced in contrast to qualitative data that is sorted into themes by the investigators. Tables, figure, references