Date of Conferral
2020
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Psychology
Advisor
Sharon Xuereb
Abstract
Sexual consent is the necessary and mutual permission of 2 parties to engage in age-appropriate sexual activity. Child sex offenders (CSOs) target children, an age group who is not legally or ethically permitted to engage in or provide consent to sex. Yet, CSOs overstep all sexual, consensual, and moral boundaries to commit a sexual offense against a child. In this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study, CSOs’ perceptions of sexual consent and the experiences of their own childhood sexual victimization shaped their conceptualizations of sexual consent were explored. The conceptual framework of implicit theory was used to gain the detailed and unbiased perspectives of CSOs based on their individual worldviews. The participants were 7 adult males who were convicted of sexual abuse against a child and were actively engaged in outpatient services in a mental health facility located in an urbanized city in Pennsylvania. Semi structured interviews were conducted to collect data, which were analyzed and interpreted using IPA. Four themes emerged from analysis: distressing and unhealthy childhood experiences, limited knowledge of consent during first sexual experiences, understanding of consent, and influences that led to sexual interaction with a child. The findings of this study can be used to improve mental and behavioral health treatment to further explore the development of sexual consent among CSOs and increase education concerning sexual consent for male victims of sexual abuse.
Recommended Citation
Lordan, Traci, "Sexual Consent Perceptions of Child Sex Offenders Who Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse" (2020). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 8937.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/8937
