The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe child sexual abusers' explanatory models of offending derived from records gathered by the Arkansas Sex Offender Screening and Risk Assessment Program (SOSRA).
Specific Aims :
The specific aims are 1) to describe offenders' perspectives on the etiology, timing, effect, severity, duration, fears, problems and interventions of child sexual abuse and 2) to identify the linkages among the offenders' strengths, which include their capacities, sense of self-determination, mastery, and psychological well-being, and deficits, which include their intimacy and social skill problems, problems with sexual arousal and interest, emotional disturbances, and cognitive distortions, as they relate to sexually abusive behavior. Nurses are in a unique position to study the issue because a holistic nursing approach emphasizes strengths as well as deficits. Offenders' deficits have been carefully studied but their strengths are not as well understood. Understanding offenders' strengths is important because such understanding builds a foundation for victim and offender treatment. It also helps society protect vulnerable children from offenders who use their strengths to continue to engage children sexually and to hide their actions. Thus, an explanatory model from the offender's perspective could make a substantial contribution to efforts to refine the current system for preventing, investigating and remediating the effects of child sexual abuse. METHODS:
The specific aims will be accomplished using methods adapted from grounded theory, including theoretical sampling, theoretical coding, and constant comparative analysis. Sample: The SOSRA records consist of biographic, psychological testing, and interview data collected for the purpose of evaluating the danger the offender poses to the community and comprise the most extensive information currently available about this difficult to access population. RESULTS: The product will be a theory that accommodates multiple psychological, biological, cultural, and situational factors associated with child sexual abuse and identify relationships among core clinical phenomena. It will contribute to the theoretical framework for a number of future studies, including comparing offenders' and professionals' explanatory models, developing an Arkansas-specific risk assessment system, and adapting a pencil and paper child sexual abuse screening scale for diagnostic use.
