Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Psychology
Date of Award
12-2009
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Christopher S. Dula
Committee Members
Andrea D. Clements, Jon B. Ellis
Abstract
As long as the public maintains staunch and unwarranted negative attitudes toward sex offenders, little hope remains for released sex offenders to successfully reintegrate into society. Therefore, it is in the interest of society that we understand the nature of views of sex offenders so that attempts can be made to promote maximal reintegration and preventing recidivism. To date no valid psychometric instrument exists that measures attitudes toward sex offenders. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop such an instrument that will accurately measure stigma associated with sex offenders. Unrotated Prinicipal Components Factor Analysis revealed a single interpretable factor comprised of 17 of the original 27 items with factor loadings of .4 or greater. Chronbach's Alpha Reliability Procedure (a=.88) indicates the SOAS is a valid instrument. The findings suggest possible uses of the SOAS in a variety of areas of sex offender rehabilitation, including treatment and reintegration programs.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Bogle, Brandon Coy, "Initial Development of the Sex Offender Attitude Scale." (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1881. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1881
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.