An evaluation of self-report measures of cognitive distortions and empathy among Australian sex offenders


Autoria(s): Tierney, David W.; McCabe, Marita
Data(s)

01/10/2001

Resumo

The modification of deviant cognitions and the enhancement of victim empathy are central components in many treatment programs for sex offenders. There appear to be three broad problems with self-report measures of these factors: variations in the psychometric evaluation of measures; the transparency of items and thus the likely influence of social desirability; and the difficulty of determining which measures are specific to particular types of sex offenders. The aim of this study was to investigate these three issues among child molesters (CMs), and men convicted of sex offences against adults (ASOs). Data were collected from 36 CMs and 31 ASOs and from two comparison groups (33 men convicted of nonsexual offences and 40 nonoffenders from the community), to assess the reliability (internal and test-retest) and validity (discriminant, construct, and face) of measures, the influence of sexual social desirability on responding and the specificity of measures to both sex offender groups. Collectively, the results raise issues related to the assessment of sex offenders that require further investigation. They also have theoretical implications about the relationship between cognitive and emotive processes among sex offenders.

Identificador

http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30001208

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Springer Netherlands

Relação

http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30001208/n20010649.pdf

http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1010239217517

Direitos

2001, Plenum Publishing Corporation

Palavras-Chave #cognitive distortions #empathy #sex offenders #assessment
Tipo

Journal Article