Religious practices and spiritual beliefs of incarcerated sex offenders

Abstract

The relationship between sexual pathology and religious ideation is a poorly understood yet frequently discussed issue in the literature on the psychological profile and treatment of sex offenders. In particular, incarcerated sex offenders have often been described as showing high utilization of religious services in prison and a preoccupation with spiritual conflict in their projective drawings and group treatment. This raises a question concerning the chronology of this relationship: Do sex offenders commit their offenses, come to prison, and then experience an increased need for spiritual and religious comfort or do distorted and excessive religious messages about sexuality in childhood lead to the creation of sexual pathology that results in incarceration? The purpose of this study is to examine the religious practices and spiritual beliefs of incarcerated sex offenders with specific emphasis on the way in which these issues have changed as a result of incarceration. A survey was constructed about religious practice and spiritual beliefs and administered to three groups of incarcerated inmates: two "types" of sex offenders and a control group of inmates who are not serving time for a sex offense. Results of the surveys were examined with particular focus on the way in which religious beliefs and spiritual attitudes of the sex offender's childhood are expressed in prison, the relationship between sexual pathology and religious ideation, and whether or not the groups of surveyed inmates differed in their approach to religion.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2001

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Newlin, Michael H.

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Program

Psychology

Subjects

Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic;Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences;Prison psychology;Prisoners -- Religious life;Sex offenders -- Religious life

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0021675

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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