Gender Constructions of Male Sex Offenders in Germany: Narrative Analysis from Group Psychotherapy

Abstract

This study was conducted to analyze how male sexual offenders construct mental images of masculinity and femininity to provide insight into therapeutic treatment for such patients. Thematerial examined in this studywas comprised of 21 videotaped prison group therapy sessions in which the participating sexual offenders talked about their crimes and biographies. Aqualitative data analysis softwarewas usedto apply a modified grounded theorymethodology to the transcribed sessions. The resulting categories can be understood as descriptions of how the imprisoned men constructed gender images, and were based on three narrative levels: the structure of narration, the narrative positions in the story, and the interaction between the narrator and the other participants. According to the categories describedin the narrative positions (the narrated self and the narrated significant male others), we constructed masculinity categorizations which corresponded to specific images of femininity (derived from the narrated significant female others).The constructionsprovided insight into the selfimage of the narrator, as well as the accountability and positioning of himself and the other in regard to perpetrator-victim constructions. The study further revealed whether the participants either accepted or rejected responsibility and guilt for their crimes; this is essential for psychotherapeutic process and treatment.

Biografias de homens e mulheres autores de violência: uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o uso de métodos com trajetória para o entendimento do fenômeno sociológico

“…Nesta linha, em um estudo etnográfico no norte da Inglaterra, Ellis, Winlow e Hall (2017) sugerem que, embora possa haver um nexo causal entre experiências traumáticas durante a infância e a persistência de práticas violentas na vida adulta, é necessário entender as especificidades culturais e sociais de cada população. Um terceiro grupo de literatura aborda as biografias em relação a homens de uma perspectiva de identidade e gênero (BAIRD, 2017;CARLSSON, 2013;DEBOS, 2011;GUETA;CHEN, 2012;JANSSON, 2018;LINDSAY, 2012;MOERTL;BUCHHOLZ;LAMOTT, 2010). Esses estudos mostram uma interpretação mais construtivista da abordagem narrativa / biográfica, investigando especificamente os processos de socialização da masculinidade, construção identitária e atribuição de significados.…”

“I Wanted to Feel Like a Man Again”: Hegemonic Masculinity in Relation to the Purchase of Street-Level Sex

“…For example, regardless of whether men provided complete stories of their lives, or snapshots in response to specific questioning, we found consistently that these men grappled with feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability, and achieving hegemonic masculine norms. Our initial analysis drew on grounded theory in that themed categories were revealed inductively, through careful and repeated review of data, rather than using a fixed category system derived a priori from the literature (Moertl et al, 2010). In other words, we did not code the data for themes found in the literature, rather themes developed from our analysis of the stories these men told.…”

Conversation Analysis – A Powerful Tool for Psychoanalytic Practice and Psychotherapy Research

“…Leading cognitive linguist George Lakoff (1987) used "What categories reveal about the mind" as subtitle for his famous book and he drew on categories of very different kinds, logical and, of course, metaphorical. We have analyzed these links methodologically (Buchholz 2006) and used them empirically in our research about sexual offenders (Buchholz, Lamott & Mörtl, 2008;Mörtl et al, 2010). In our view, it is not that CA overlooks the "ontological status" of the unconscious; CA enriches psychoanalytic conceptions of the unconscious by focusing on other activities (sequences and categories) more than traditional conceptions of the unconscious do.…”