Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The rationale for treating adolescent sex offenders is based on the expectation that change will occur. Yet, not all adolescent sex offenders are ready or willing to change. The Transtheoretical model describes a person's readiness for change and predicts the likelihood of change based on level of readiness. While the model has been successfully applied to adults, it has never been applied to adolescent sex offenders in treatment. Thus one of the goals of the study was to provide descriptive information on the applicability of the model's stage of change to adolescent sex offenders in treatment. A second goal was to examine the relationship between the offenders' stage of change and the processes employed in their endeavor to change. Participants included 53 adolescents currently in therapy dealing with issues of a sex offense. To determine the stage of change, participants responded to the Stage of Change questionnaires. To determine their relative use of different processes of change, participants responded to the Processes of Change questionnaire. The results revealed that the Stage of Change questionnaire separated the participants into the five stages of change as described by the model. This finding supports the theory as well as previous research with people in therapy. Analyses of variance revealed that participants in the contemplation, preparation, and action stages reported no significant differences in use of experiential or behavioral processes of change. This finding suggests that further research is needed before the Transtheoretical model of change is applicable to adolescent sex offenders.

Download

Share

COinS