A grounded theory analysis of the reasons that men with intellectual disabilities who have sexually offended against children give for their offending behaviour

Sexual offenders are a heterogeneous group who include men with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). Different Levels of Theory exist to help explain this type of behaviour. Level 3 theories seek to detail the offence process and are used to build higher level theories. The main theories developed to understand sexual offending behaviour have not included the voices of sexual offenders with an ID. This study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring the offence process of men with an ID who sexually offend against children. It examined the reasons that participants gave for their offending behaviour and aimed to develop a theoretical model of the explanations that participants gave for their offending behaviour, including its onset, development and maintenance. A qualitative design was employed and the data from 12 participants was analysed using Grounded Theory. A tentative model was developed where seven major categories and the central category emerged. The model did not reach saturation. It places reasons/attitudes at the centre of the model, as these were found to relate to every category, and were at the heart of the participants' explanations of the development and maintenance of the offences. The model identifies both distal and proximal factors which the participants described in their offence accounts. It includes developmental, contextual, cognitive, affective and behavioural factors. The developed model has clear similarities with other sexual offending theories and the clinical implications of this finding are considered. Future research directions are also suggested.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo