An Empirical Examination of an Offender x Situation Interaction Typology of Male Adolescent Sexual Offending

View/ Open
Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Leclerc, Benoit
Smallbone, Stephen
Other Supervisors
Cale, Jesse
Year published
2016
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis empirically examined the validity of Wortley and Smallbone’s (2006) offender x situation interaction typology of sexual offending, using a sample of male adolescent sexual offenders. Driven primarily by applied concerns with the situational prevention of sexual offending, this typology draws on the ideas that have emerged from interactional psychology to emphasise the interdependent influence of internal (dispositional) and external (situational) factors on sexual offending. It proposes the existence of three sexual offender types (‘Predatory’, ‘Opportunist’, and ‘Situational’), distinguished based on the strength ...
View more >This thesis empirically examined the validity of Wortley and Smallbone’s (2006) offender x situation interaction typology of sexual offending, using a sample of male adolescent sexual offenders. Driven primarily by applied concerns with the situational prevention of sexual offending, this typology draws on the ideas that have emerged from interactional psychology to emphasise the interdependent influence of internal (dispositional) and external (situational) factors on sexual offending. It proposes the existence of three sexual offender types (‘Predatory’, ‘Opportunist’, and ‘Situational’), distinguished based on the strength of their predisposition towards sexual offending, and three offence situation types (‘Challenged’, ‘Tempted’, and ‘Precipitated’), that vary in the extent to which they allow/encourage sexual offending. It highlights that those with stronger predispositions towards sexual offending will do so across a wider range of situations, including those that inhibit/discourage such behaviour, while those with weaker or ambivalent motivations will limit their sexual offending to situations that are perceived to encourage such behaviour, or make it easy and safe to engage in.
View less >
View more >This thesis empirically examined the validity of Wortley and Smallbone’s (2006) offender x situation interaction typology of sexual offending, using a sample of male adolescent sexual offenders. Driven primarily by applied concerns with the situational prevention of sexual offending, this typology draws on the ideas that have emerged from interactional psychology to emphasise the interdependent influence of internal (dispositional) and external (situational) factors on sexual offending. It proposes the existence of three sexual offender types (‘Predatory’, ‘Opportunist’, and ‘Situational’), distinguished based on the strength of their predisposition towards sexual offending, and three offence situation types (‘Challenged’, ‘Tempted’, and ‘Precipitated’), that vary in the extent to which they allow/encourage sexual offending. It highlights that those with stronger predispositions towards sexual offending will do so across a wider range of situations, including those that inhibit/discourage such behaviour, while those with weaker or ambivalent motivations will limit their sexual offending to situations that are perceived to encourage such behaviour, or make it easy and safe to engage in.
View less >
Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Male adolescent sexual offenders
Sexual offending
Predatory sexual offending
Opportunistic sexual offending
Situational sexual offending