Beliefs used to justify child sexual abuse among child sexual abusers

• Main Authors: Chua, Jessamine T., Garcia, Rhea Lourdes, Vilela, Ma. Veronica C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Child molesting; Child abuse; Rapists; Rape victims; Sex offenders; Belief and doubt; Evidence; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_honors/112
• Institution: De La Salle University

Child sexual offenders are known to hold beliefs that justify, minimize, deny, excuse or rationalize the act of child sexual abuse. This study aims to identify these beliefs. Eight inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa and one probationer from the Parole and Probation Office in Quezon City were the subjects of this study. Three subjects were convicted of committing Rape while six were charged with Acts of Lasciviousness. Subjects were interviewed by a male counselor due to the sensitivity of the topic. In addition to this, files of the subjects were looked into to identify possible characteristics of a child sex offender. Case records were constructed for each subject. Any belief which may be used by the subject to justify, minimize, deny, excuse or rationalize the act of child sexual abuse is considered. A personality profile of the offenders was formed which was based on their case records and interviews. Qualitative content analysis was performed on the data gathered. Beliefs on women, child sexual abuse and the society were found to be present in the subjects. These beliefs were further divided into more specific opinions. Trends and differences in the data gathered as well as the implications of the study are also discussed.