Problems of Forensic Sciences 2014 Vol. 98 (XCVIII) 118-137
MEASUREMENT OF COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS IN CHILD MOLESTERS
Filip SZUMSKI
Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Streszczenie
The aim of this paper is to summarize and evaluate previous attempts at the measurement of cognitive distortions in child molesters. The concept of cognitive distortions has been conceptualized using Ward and Keenan’s (1999) theory as the manifestation of causal implicit theories concerning the perpetrator, the victim, the surroundings, and the relationships between these elements. After reviewing the research, three generations of studies have been distinguished. The first generation studies were conducted using questionnaires. Their results have provided evidence that child molesters manifest cognitive distortions, but due to insufficient conceptualization, the possibilities of their interpretation were strongly limited. In the second generation studies, a clear conceptualization of the concept of cognitive distortions was delineated and a variety of tools was used, but these did not provide conclusive results. In the third generation studies a simultaneous use of several various methods of measurement of cognitive distortions was postulated. All the previous studies had only partially confirmed the theoretical assumptions. It is necessary to conduct further research, taking into account several groups of participants, with simultaneous measurement of cognitive distortions using several various tools based on the same theoretical conceptualization.
Słowa kluczowe
Cognitive distortions; Sexual offenders; Child molesters; Aetiology of sexual crime.