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Clinicians’ Beliefs Regarding Variables That Contribute to the Honest Disclosure of Adolescent Males in Sexual Offender Treatment

Kissinger, Donald M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1257116719

Abstract Details

2009, PHD, Kent State University, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences.
The purpose of this study was to identify the thoughts, behaviors, and events that clinicians who work with adolescent male sexual offenders perceived as assisting the offenders in honest disclosure of sexual abuse. Honest disclosure is thought by some researchers to be a critical component of sexual offender treatment. The study using Q-methodology involved 35 (16 male and 19 female) clinicians who offered sexual offender treatment. Each was asked to sort 24 statements about specific thoughts, behaviors, and events that they thought aided adolescent males in making honest disclosure of sexual offenses on a continuum from most helpful (+3) to least helpful (-3). The 24 statements comprising the sort had been garnered from interviews with a panel of clinicians who shared ideas about what assisted adolescents in honestly disclosing sexual offenses. The sorts were then factor analyzed to disclose clinicians who sorted in similar ways. These sub-groupings of clinicians thus held a common perspective of what they thought was helpful in gaining honest disclosure. Three significant sub-groupings of clinician’s perspectives were revealed. Factor 1 consisted of 7 participants and accounted for 20% of the variance. This group thought that the clinician’s expression of non-judgmental respect was most important in assisting adolescent sexual offenders to make honest disclosure of their sexual offenses. Factor 2 consisted of a group of 6 clinicians whose responses accounted for 17% of the variance. Their responses stressed the importance of having a network of judges, lawyers, probation officers, clinicians, and family members who focused on the adolescent’s honesty and accountability. Finally, a third factor was revealed consisting of 6 clinicians accounting for 17% of variance. Clinicians loading on this factor stressed the thoughts of adolescents. They thought those adolescents who assumed guilt for their offenses and thought they needed help were most likely to honestly disclose their offenses. The data suggested that adolescent sexual offenders openness to disclose their sexual offenses is influenced by both interactional patterns with others and internal factors.
Donald Bubenzer, PhD (Committee Co-Chair)
John West, EdD (Committee Co-Chair)
Kele Ding, PhD (Committee Member)
197 p.
Educational Psychology; Mental Health; Psychology
adolescent sexual offender treatment; adolescent; sexual offender treatment; honesty; clinicians' beliefs

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kissinger, D. M. (2009). Clinicians’ Beliefs Regarding Variables That Contribute to the Honest Disclosure of Adolescent Males in Sexual Offender Treatment [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1257116719

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kissinger, Donald. Clinicians’ Beliefs Regarding Variables That Contribute to the Honest Disclosure of Adolescent Males in Sexual Offender Treatment. 2009. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1257116719.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kissinger, Donald. "Clinicians’ Beliefs Regarding Variables That Contribute to the Honest Disclosure of Adolescent Males in Sexual Offender Treatment." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1257116719

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.