Abstract

This study examined the coping and religious coping strategies used by child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetrators. It was hypothesized that (1) Perpetrators of incestuous CSA would show greater use of Emotion-Oriented coping than perpetrators of non-incestuous CSA, (2) perpetrators of non-incestuous CSA would show greater use of Task-Oriented coping than perpetrators of incestuous CSA (3) Perpetrators of incestuous CSA would show greater use of Avoidance-Oriented coping than perpetrators of non-incestuous CSA, and (4) there would be a difference in the use of positive and negative religious coping between groups of incestuous and non-incestuous CSA perpetrators. Participants completed the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) (Endler & Parker, 1990a), the Brief RCOPE (Pargament, Smith, Koenig & Perez, 1998), a demographic questionnaire, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) to control for social desirability (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). Forty-six individuals from local chapters of Parents United volunteered to participate. An examination of correlations found that age and therapy time were positively correlated and that age was also positively correlated with positive religious coping. Results of a one-way analysis of covariance did not find support for any of the 4 hypotheses, but found that incestuous CSA perpetrators were scored significantly higher on the Task scale of the CISS than non-incestuous CSA perpetrators (p = .000). Also noted were trend for incestuous perpetrators to score higher on positive religious coping and lower on the Distraction subscale of the Avoidance coping scale than non-incestuous CSA perpetrators. Limitations of the study, research implications, and treatment implications are discussed.

LLU Discipline

Psychology

Department

Psychology

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Janet L. Sonne

Second Advisor

Glenn A. Heinrichs

Third Advisor

Louis Jenkins

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Degree Level

Psych.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2004

Date (Title Page)

9-2004

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Incest; Child Abuse, Sexual; Psychotherapy -- methods

Type

Doctoral Project

Page Count

xi; 70

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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