Saturday, June 23, 2007

More NCJRS Abstracts, June 23, 2007

AMONG THE LATEST RESEARCH POSTED AT http://www.ncjrs.gov/. CHECK FOR OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST THERE AS WELL.

NCJ 218574
Theresa A. Gannon; Tony Ward; Rachael Collie
Cognitive Distortions in Child Molesters: Theoretical and Research Developments Over the Past Two Decades
Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal
Volume:12 Issue:4 Dated:July-August 2007 Pages:402 to 416

This article reviews the theoretical and methodological developments concerning child molesters' cognitive distortions. Generally, over the last two decades theory and research into the cognitive distortions of child molesters have been scant. For many years Abel’s theory on the cognitive distortions of child molesters was the beginning framework for most research on the topic. Abel’s cognitive distortion framework uses social learning theory to explain how the normal development of some boys goes eschew to promote deviant and inappropriate sexual arousal to children. Abel further explained that in order for these men to deal with the disparity between their deviant sexual arousal and the expectations of society, they develop pro-sexual offending beliefs that frame their actions and thoughts as being more appropriate. Approximately 6 years ago, however, Ward introduced the concept of implicit theory (IT) into the research literature on child molesters. According to Ward, child molesters' offense-supportive beliefs are the product of ITs that can be used to make sense of their world. Therefore, child molesters are drawn to offense-supportive social information and ambiguous social information is interpreted in offense-supportive ways. The application of IT to understanding the cognitive distortions of child molesters have led therapists to target the core theories hypothesized to underlie the offense-supportive statements of child molesters. This method allows therapists to: (1) educate child molesters about the ways in which ITs function to skew their offense-related interpretations; (2) provide child molesters with alternative interpretations of information they see as being offense-supportive; and (3) challenge the underlying IT with highly IT-incongruent information. Future research is needed on the effectiveness of child molester treatment programs using an IT framework. References

NCJ 218553
Angelia M. Paschal; Rhonda K. Lewis; Jamilia Sly
African American Parents' Behaviors and Attitudes About Substance Use and Abuse
Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse
Volume:6 Issue:1 Dated:2007 Pages:67 to 79

This study examined whether the behaviors and attitudes about substance use among a sample of African-American parents differed from the general population of adults. Results indicated that, overall, African-American parents held more conservative attitudes and reported less alcohol and illicit drug use than adults from the general population. However, there was more agreement between African-American parents and the general population of adults concerning the use of marijuana and cigarettes. While more than half of the parents in the study believed that smoking marijuana was risky behavior, a similar proportion of parents reported using marijuana themselves. The authors caution that the conservative attitudes about substance use found in this study may be partly attributable to the study’s location in the Midwest which is known for conservative stances on many political and health issues. The findings suggest that increased educational efforts should be targeted to parents concerning the dangers of marijuana and its relationship to their children’s behavior. Future research is encouraged on the attitudes and behaviors of African-American parents regarding marijuana and cigarette use. Participants were 239 parents who participated in the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), a substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention project for African-American youths aged 12 to 17 years and their parents. Participants completed the Government Performance and Results Act and questions from a piloted health survey. Statistical data analyses were performed using SPSS 11.5 for Windows. Comparisons of the data were made using statistics from the general population of adults. Tables, references

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