The present study examined the parent-child attachments, typical coping styles, and childhood sexual abuse among 30 child molesters, 24 nonsexual offenders, and 29 nonoffenders. The results indicated that all subjects reported greater security in their attachments to their mothers than to their fathers and the insecure patterns of childhood attachments were related to ineffective adult coping. The only difference observed in characteristic coping showed that child molesters were more likely to engage in emotion focused strategies. Child molesters reported having experienced high levels of childhood sexual abuse and these experiences appear to have been more distressing to them than to other subjects. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and treatment.
Billings, A.G., & Moos, R.H. ( 1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the impact of stressful life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 139-157.
2.
Briere, J. (1988). The long-term clinical correlates of childhood sexual victimization. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences , 328, 327-334.
3.
Bumby, K.M., & Hansen, D.J. ( 1997). Intimacy deficits, fear of intimacy, and loneliness among sexual offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior24, 315-331.
4.
Cortoni, F.A., & Marshall, W.L. ( 1995). Childhood attachments, juvenile sexual history and adult coping skills in sex offenders. Paper presented at the 14th Annual Research and Treatment Conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, New Orleans, Oct.
5.
Cortoni, F.A., & Marshall, W.L. ( 1996). Juvenile sexual history, sex and coping strategies: A comparison of sexual and violent offenders. Paper presented at the International Congress of Psychology, Montreal, Aug.
6.
Cortoni, F.A., Heil, P., & Marshall, W.L. ( 1996). Sex as a coping mechanism and its relationship to loneliness and intimacy deficits in sexual offenders . Paper presented at the 15th Annual Research and Treatment Conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers , Chicago, Nov.
7.
Crowne, D.P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349-354.
8.
Cummings, C., Gordon, J.R., & Marlatt, G.A. (1980). Relapse: Strategies for prevention and prediction . In W. R. Miller (Ed.), The addictive behaviors (pp. 291-331). Oxford: Pergamon.
9.
Dhawan, S., & Marshall, W.L. (1996). Sexual abuse histories of sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 7-15.
10.
Endler, N.S., & Parker, J.D.A. (1990). Multidimensional assessment of coping: A critical evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 844-854.
11.
Forsyth, C.J., & Compas, B.E. (1987). Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: Testing the goodness of fit hypothesis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, 473-485.
12.
Garlick, Y., Marshall, W.L., & Thornton, D. ( 1996). Intimacy deficits and attribution of blame among sex offenders. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1, 251-258.
13.
Hanson, R.K., & Slater, S. ( 1988). Sexual victimization in the history of sexual abusers: A review. Annals of Sex Research, 1, 485-499.
14.
Hazen, R.L., & Shaver, S. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.
15.
Laws, D.R. (1989). Relapse prevention with sex offenders. New York: Guilford.
16.
Lisak, D. (1994). The psychological impact of sexual abuse: Content analysis of interviews with male survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 525-548.
17.
Marques, J.K., & Nelson, C. (1989). Elements of high-risk situations for sex offenders . In D. R. Laws (Ed.), Relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 35-46). New York: Guilford.
18.
Marshall, W.L. (1989). Intimacy, loneliness and sexual offenders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 491-503.
19.
Marshall, W.L. (1993). The role of attachment, intimacy, and loneliness in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 8, 109-121.
20.
Marshall, W.L. (1994). Pauvreté des liens d'attachement et déficiences dans les rapports intimes chez les agresseurs sexuels. Criminologie , XXVII, 55-69.
21.
Marshall, W.L., & Barbaree, H.E. (1990). An integrated theory of sexual offending. In W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, & H. E. Barbaree (Eds.), Handbook of sexual assault: Issues, theories, and treatment of the offender (pp. 257-275). New York: Plenum.
22.
Marshall, W.L., & Hambley, L.S. ( 1996). Intimacy and loneliness and their relationship to rape myth acceptance and hostility toward women among rapists. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 586-592.
23.
Marshall, W.L., & Mazzucco, A. (1995). Self-esteem and parental attachments in child molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment , 7, 279-285.
24.
Marshall, W.L., Hudson, S.M., & Hodkinson, S. (1993). The importance of attachment bonds in the development of juvenile sex offending. In H. E. Barbaree , W. L. Marshall, & S. M. Hudson (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender (pp. 164-181). New York: Guilford .
25.
Marshall, W.L., Champagne, F., Brown, C., & Miller, S. (1997). Empathy, intimacy, loneliness, and self-esteem in nonfamilial child molesters. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse , 6, 87-97.
26.
McKibben, A., Proulx, J., & Lusignan, R. (1994). Relationship between conflict, affect and deviant sexual behaviours in rapists and pedophiles. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 571-575.
27.
Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Weller, A. (1993). Attachment styles, coping strategies, and posttraumatic psychological distress: The impact of the gulf war in Israel. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 817-826.
28.
Miner, M.H., Day, D.M., & Nafpaktitis, M.K. (1989). Assessment of coping skills: Development of a situational competency test. In D. R. Laws (Ed.), Relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 127-136). New York: Guilford.
29.
Mullen, P.E., Martin, J.L., Anderson, J.C., Romans, S.E., & Harbison, G.P. (1994). The effect of child sexual abuse on social, interpersonal, and sexual function in adult life. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 35-47.
30.
Neidigh, L., & Tomiko, R. (1991). The coping strategies of child sexual abusers . Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 17, 103-110.
31.
Neidigh, L., Geston, E., & Shiffman, S. ( 1988). Coping with the temptation to drink. Addictive Behaviors, 13, 1-19.
32.
Pithers, W.D., Beal, L.S., Armstrong, J., & Petty, J. (1989). Identification of risk factors through clinical interviews and analysis of records. In D. R. Laws (Ed.), Relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 77-87). New York: Guilford.
33.
Proulx, J., McKibben, A., & Lusignan, R. ( 1996). Relationships between affective components and sexual behaviors in sexual aggressors. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 279-289.
34.
Russell, D.E.H. (1983). The incidence and prevalence of intrafamilial sexual abuse of female children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 133-146.
35.
Ryan, G., & Lane, S. (1991). Juvenile sexual offending: Causes, consequences, and correction. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
36.
Seidman, B.T., Marshall, W.L., Hudson, S.M., & Robertson, P.J. (1994). An examination of intimacy and loneliness in sex offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9, 518-534.
37.
Smallbone, S.W., & Dadds, M.R. (1998). Childhood attachment and adult attachment in incarcerated adult male sex offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 13, 555-573.
38.
Smallbone, S.W., & Dadds, M.R. (2000). Attachment and coercive behavior. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 12, XX-XX.
39.
Steenman, H., Nelson, C., & Viesti, C. (1989). Developing coping strategies for high-risk situations . In D. R. Laws (Ed.), Relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 178-187). New York: Guilford.
40.
Ward, A., Hudson, S.M., & Marshall, W.L. (1995). Cognitive distortions and affective deficits in sexual offenders: A cognitive deconstructionist interpretation . Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment , 7, 67-83.
41.
Ward, A., Hudson, S.M., Marshall, W.L., & Siegert, R. ( 1995). Attachment style and intimacy deficits in sexual offenders: A theoretical framework. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 317-335.
42.
Ward, A., Hudson, S.M., & Marshall, W.L. (1996). Attachment style in sex offenders: A preliminary study. Journal of Sex Research, 33, 17-26.
