Date of Graduation
Summer 2016
Degree
Master of Science in Psychology
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Ann Rost
Abstract
Attitudes toward sex offenders are generally negative, and many of us come into contact with these individuals within our communities and perhaps our occupations. Some of these opinions, however, are fueled by stereotypes whether accurate or erroneous. These opinions likely affect interactions with these individuals and punitive policies, which may impact the rehabilitation process of sex offenders. Measuring attitudes may offer insight into specific beliefs regarding this population and perhaps support the conveyance of accurate information surrounding sex offenders and their rehabilitation process. There are few existing measures utilized for measuring attitudes toward sex offenders, and those in use vary in their psychometric imperfections. The goal of this study was to pool items from these measures to create a new concise scale psychometrically superior to those already in existence. The results of EFA and CFA analyses demonstrated this goal was achieved, in that the derived 3-factor model (including: Beliefs about the Possibility of Rehabilitation, Beliefs about Deviance and Trustworthiness, and Beliefs about How to Punitively Manage Sex Offenders) demonstrated psychometric properties stronger than those of previous scales.
Keywords
sex offenders, attitudes, measures, psychometric properties, treatment, beliefs, stereotypes
Subject Categories
Psychology
Copyright
© Amy Elizabeth Bauman
Recommended Citation
Bauman, Amy Elizabeth, "Exploration Of Factors In Established Scales Regarding Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders" (2016). MSU Graduate Theses. 2951.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2951
