The Relationship Between Parental Acceptance and Rejection Theory and Sex Offending: Analyzing the Differences Between Sex Offenders and Non-Sex Offender

One theoretical approach in the field of psychology that has helped to explain antisocial behavior is referred to The Parental Acceptance and Rejection Theory. The relationship and the level of attachment between a child and their parent(s) can have a significant influence on their future antisocial behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine if The Parental Acceptance and Rejection Theory correlates to sex offending. This study utilized secondary data from sex offenders and non-sex offenders in a community corrections facility.;Previous research indicated that sex offenders had reported greater incidents of previous physical, sexual and emotional abuse by their parent(s) than non-sex offenders, and therefore it was hypothesized that sex offenders were statistically different than non-sex offenders when reporting previous incidents of abuse, and well as statistically different in their parental attachment scores.;The results of this data set indicated that there was not a statistically significant difference between sex offenders and non-sex offenders when comparing previous abuse and parental attachment. Although the results of this specific sample did not have a significant difference in parental attachment or incidents of abuse between male sex offenders and non-sex offenders, factors other than early childhood experiences and attachments should be implemented and examined in order to help explain antisocial behavior, as well as other criminological theories can continue to be explored order to explain sex offending.