A qualitative study of incest offender implicit theories with the use of a modified assessment tool
A qualitative study of incest offender implicit theories with the use of a modified assessment tool

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to provide an insight into the Implicit Theories (ITs)1 harboured by Incest Offenders. This study was conducted on a sample of 27 inmates, all convicted for incest offending, from TePiriti, a Special Treatment Unit within the Auckland Prison located near Auckland, New Zealand. The sample comprised of five sub-classifications of Incest Offenders – Fathers, Brothers, Grand Fathers, Step-fathers and Uncles. The study took place in two stages. Stage one involved a questionnaire administration. The questionnaire was inspired from Multiphasic Sex Inventory-II (MSI-II). The researchers have selected 100 questions, suggestive of the Five Implicit Theories - Children as Sexual Objects, Nature of Harm, Dangerous World, Uncontrollability and Entitlement - from the MSI-II and formulated a questionnaire for the study. After the questionnaire was administered, five incest offenders, who endorsed each of the five ITs, were select on the basis of their scores, for the second stage of the study which involved an interview. These five subjects were interviewed with an aim to get a deeper understanding of their endorsements of their ITs. The questionnaire was analyzed using quantitative analysis while the interviews were analyzed using the qualitative analysis method. The results indicated that the subjects strongly endorsed implicit theories to justify their offending behaviours.

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