NCJ Number
186951
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 45 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 70-82
Date Published
February 2001
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study investigates the lack of male social support for violent sex offenders.
Abstract
Social networks and social support generally have an important impact on crisis management and may thus influence prevention and rehabilitation strategies. This study investigated the social network and support of 62 incarcerated sexual offenders who were divided into a high-violent group and a low-violent group. Five factors described specific dimensions of social support. The high-violent group had significantly lower perceived social support concerning the factors "talking to someone about problems and feelings" and "rely on someone." This low support exclusively referred to men outside the family. Neither the number of previous convictions nor length of prior imprisonment predicted the amount of displayed violence. The article compares study results with those in the pertinent literature and discusses the results in light of relevant therapeutic strategies in prevention and rehabilitation. The study concludes that the degree of emotional isolation as reflected in offenders' inability to exchange feelings and confidences seems to play an important role in developing inappropriate sexual behavior. The ability to talk about feelings and to act out conflicts in a more realistic way was one of the most important changes reported by sex offenders who did not relapse. Tables, references