NCJ Number
177166
Journal
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 267-278
Date Published
1998
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article researches the correlation between offenders' concepts of self-esteem, assertiveness, feelings toward others and relationships and the degree of violence of the last offense and risk of reoffense.
Abstract
Lack of self-esteem and assertiveness have been thought to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of sex offending behavior and to be significantly related to the number of previous convictions or violence of the assault. The study analyzed self-concepts of 53 long-term incarcerated sex offenders to research the correlation between concepts of self-esteem, assertiveness, feelings toward others and relationships and the degree of violence of the last offense and risk of reoffense. It also investigated the relationship of previous convictions and duration of incarceration with the offenders' self-concepts and the influence of psychotherapeutic intervention on the offenders' self-concepts. The study's main conclusions included: (1) Incarcerated sex offenders' self-concepts are negatively correlated to their criminal histories; (2) The linear correlation of self-concepts and number of previous convictions can be seen as a link to criminology; (3) Specific differences in self-concept of various sex offender groups (child molesters, rapists, exhibitionists) interfere with criminal socialization; and (4) Therapy may help prevent deterioration of self-concepts while individuals are in custody. Table, references