{"id":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","oai_identifier":"oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/150038"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/toronto-retro/oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/150038","repository":{"repo_id":"toronto-retro","name":"University of Toronto","base_url":"https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Fostering Connection and Healing: An Intervention Study to Understand Adolescent Sexual Offending Treatment Effects, Mechanisms, and Worldviews","abstract":"The prevalence of child sexual abuse in Canada is an important social problem, with a significant portion of sexual offending charges against children and youth peers committed by adolescents or young adults under the age of 24 (Afifi et al., 2014; Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2022). The extensive scholarship from adult sexual offending has informed the adolescent sexual offending research, sociolegal, and clinical fields, providing a helpful starting point. However, continued application of adult sexual offending frameworks onto adolescents has resulted in the promulgation of misinformation and inappropriate treatment approaches. Resultingly, it is especially imperative to conduct research and evaluation on developmentally appropriate adolescent-specific models of treatment. This dissertation offers an intervention research program on the Unite and Redefine Group Therapy Program for adolescents (ages 15-21) who have sexually offended by: (1) Addressing gaps in the current adolescent sexual offending literature; (2) Contributing an evidence base for a group therapy intervention (Unite and Redefine) to the sexual abuse prevention clinical practice field; (3) Understanding the processes of group therapy goals through content and emotional connection/processing, with an emphasis on cohesive and client centered practices; (4) Understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of adolescents who sexually offend in treatment; and (5) Offering a meaningful social work contribution to the adolescent sexual offending field. Quantitative pre- and post-test measures by the participants of Unite and Redefine were analyzed and are detailed in Dissertation Paper 1. Qualitative interviews with participants yielded Paper 2, which specifically focuses on the group processes and content that resulted in meaningful change for the participants. Interview analysis also comprise Paper 3, which offers a Constructivist Grounded Theory, informed by symbolic interactionism, of the skillful use of impression management redressive action to cope with the societal stigma of sexual offending by adolescents who have sexually offended. The research presented here will have an impact on clinical practice and further research by guiding clinicians in implementing necessary and important interventions with their adolescent clients that supports them in striving to achieve better and more fulsome lives without causing future harm to themselves or others. This research can direct future efforts to better understand how this population engages with group treatment and can help clinical efforts in supporting clients to engage with important treatment goals such as masculinity, shame, self-compassion, and impression management to live safe, fulfilling futures with healed familial and intimate relationships.","abstract_html":"The prevalence of child sexual abuse in Canada is an important social problem, with a significant portion of sexual offending charges against children and youth peers committed by adolescents or young adults under the age of 24 (Afifi et al., 2014; Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2022). The extensive scholarship from adult sexual offending has informed the adolescent sexual offending research, sociolegal, and clinical fields, providing a helpful starting point. However, continued application of adult sexual offending frameworks onto adolescents has resulted in the promulgation of misinformation and inappropriate treatment approaches. Resultingly, it is especially imperative to conduct research and evaluation on developmentally appropriate adolescent-specific models of treatment. This dissertation offers an intervention research program on the Unite and Redefine Group Therapy Program for adolescents (ages 15-21) who have sexually offended by: (1) Addressing gaps in the current adolescent sexual offending literature; (2) Contributing an evidence base for a group therapy intervention (Unite and Redefine) to the sexual abuse prevention clinical practice field; (3) Understanding the processes of group therapy goals through content and emotional connection/processing, with an emphasis on cohesive and client centered practices; (4) Understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of adolescents who sexually offend in treatment; and (5) Offering a meaningful social work contribution to the adolescent sexual offending field. Quantitative pre- and post-test measures by the participants of Unite and Redefine were analyzed and are detailed in Dissertation Paper 1. Qualitative interviews with participants yielded Paper 2, which specifically focuses on the group processes and content that resulted in meaningful change for the participants. Interview analysis also comprise Paper 3, which offers a Constructivist Grounded Theory, informed by symbolic interactionism, of the skillful use of impression management redressive action to cope with the societal stigma of sexual offending by adolescents who have sexually offended. The research presented here will have an impact on clinical practice and further research by guiding clinicians in implementing necessary and important interventions with their adolescent clients that supports them in striving to achieve better and more fulsome lives without causing future harm to themselves or others. This research can direct future efforts to better understand how this population engages with group treatment and can help clinical efforts in supporting clients to engage with important treatment goals such as masculinity, shame, self-compassion, and impression management to live safe, fulfilling futures with healed familial and intimate relationships.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pascoe, Rachael Victoria"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Social Work","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Craig, Shelley L."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-10","date_published":"2025-10","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:02Z","subjects":["Adolescent sexual offending","Group Therapy","Guilt and Shame","Impression Management","Masculinity","Self Compassion"],"languages":[],"rights":["Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International"],"rights_urls":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1807/150038","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Craig, Shelley L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Social Work"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pascoe, Rachael Victoria"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-10"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-11-28T16:51:20Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-10"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Adolescent sexual offending","Group Therapy","Guilt and Shame","Impression Management","Masculinity","Self Compassion"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1807/150038"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The prevalence of child sexual abuse in Canada is an important social problem, with a significant portion of sexual offending charges against children and youth peers committed by adolescents or young adults under the age of 24 (Afifi et al., 2014; Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2022). The extensive scholarship from adult sexual offending has informed the adolescent sexual offending research, sociolegal, and clinical fields, providing a helpful starting point. However, continued application of adult sexual offending frameworks onto adolescents has resulted in the promulgation of misinformation and inappropriate treatment approaches. Resultingly, it is especially imperative to conduct research and evaluation on developmentally appropriate adolescent-specific models of treatment. This dissertation offers an intervention research program on the Unite and Redefine Group Therapy Program for adolescents (ages 15-21) who have sexually offended by: (1) Addressing gaps in the current adolescent sexual offending literature; (2) Contributing an evidence base for a group therapy intervention (Unite and Redefine) to the sexual abuse prevention clinical practice field; (3) Understanding the processes of group therapy goals through content and emotional connection/processing, with an emphasis on cohesive and client centered practices; (4) Understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of adolescents who sexually offend in treatment; and (5) Offering a meaningful social work contribution to the adolescent sexual offending field. Quantitative pre- and post-test measures by the participants of Unite and Redefine were analyzed and are detailed in Dissertation Paper 1. Qualitative interviews with participants yielded Paper 2, which specifically focuses on the group processes and content that resulted in meaningful change for the participants. Interview analysis also comprise Paper 3, which offers a Constructivist Grounded Theory, informed by symbolic interactionism, of the skillful use of impression management redressive action to cope with the societal stigma of sexual offending by adolescents who have sexually offended. The research presented here will have an impact on clinical practice and further research by guiding clinicians in implementing necessary and important interventions with their adolescent clients that supports them in striving to achieve better and more fulsome lives without causing future harm to themselves or others. This research can direct future efforts to better understand how this population engages with group treatment and can help clinical efforts in supporting clients to engage with important treatment goals such as masculinity, shame, self-compassion, and impression management to live safe, fulfilling futures with healed familial and intimate relationships."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Fostering Connection and Healing: An Intervention Study to Understand Adolescent Sexual Offending Treatment Effects, Mechanisms, and Worldviews"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Craig, Shelley L."],"dc:contributor.department":["Social Work"],"dc:creator":["Pascoe, Rachael Victoria"],"dc:date":["2025-10"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-11-28T16:51:20Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-10"],"dc:description.abstract":["The prevalence of child sexual abuse in Canada is an important social problem, with a significant portion of sexual offending charges against children and youth peers committed by adolescents or young adults under the age of 24 (Afifi et al., 2014; Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2022). The extensive scholarship from adult sexual offending has informed the adolescent sexual offending research, sociolegal, and clinical fields, providing a helpful starting point. However, continued application of adult sexual offending frameworks onto adolescents has resulted in the promulgation of misinformation and inappropriate treatment approaches. Resultingly, it is especially imperative to conduct research and evaluation on developmentally appropriate adolescent-specific models of treatment. This dissertation offers an intervention research program on the Unite and Redefine Group Therapy Program for adolescents (ages 15-21) who have sexually offended by: (1) Addressing gaps in the current adolescent sexual offending literature; (2) Contributing an evidence base for a group therapy intervention (Unite and Redefine) to the sexual abuse prevention clinical practice field; (3) Understanding the processes of group therapy goals through content and emotional connection/processing, with an emphasis on cohesive and client centered practices; (4) Understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of adolescents who sexually offend in treatment; and (5) Offering a meaningful social work contribution to the adolescent sexual offending field. Quantitative pre- and post-test measures by the participants of Unite and Redefine were analyzed and are detailed in Dissertation Paper 1. Qualitative interviews with participants yielded Paper 2, which specifically focuses on the group processes and content that resulted in meaningful change for the participants. Interview analysis also comprise Paper 3, which offers a Constructivist Grounded Theory, informed by symbolic interactionism, of the skillful use of impression management redressive action to cope with the societal stigma of sexual offending by adolescents who have sexually offended. The research presented here will have an impact on clinical practice and further research by guiding clinicians in implementing necessary and important interventions with their adolescent clients that supports them in striving to achieve better and more fulsome lives without causing future harm to themselves or others. This research can direct future efforts to better understand how this population engages with group treatment and can help clinical efforts in supporting clients to engage with important treatment goals such as masculinity, shame, self-compassion, and impression management to live safe, fulfilling futures with healed familial and intimate relationships."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1807/150038"],"dc:rights":["Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"],"dc:subject":["Adolescent sexual offending","Group Therapy","Guilt and Shame","Impression Management","Masculinity","Self Compassion"],"dc:title":["Fostering Connection and Healing: An Intervention Study to Understand Adolescent Sexual Offending Treatment Effects, Mechanisms, and Worldviews"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:02Z"}