Atlantic International University is delighted once again to share the Thesis Defense of one of our students- Robert Horsley. He recently presented his thesis defense which was graded with an A. His thesis was titled- “Chasing Hailstorms: Attachment Theory and Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse“. You can find an abstract of his thesis down below:

ABSTRACT:

     The number of studies with focus on attachment principles in the understanding of sexual offending is growing rapidly amongst the research fraternity- but research has yet to confirm the link between attachment styles and specific sexual offending behaviours. Sexual offending and sexual violence are acts buttressed by multiple social practices- norms- and locations- occurring on a continuum that span both the micro and macro aspects and levels of society. Societal structures are very often not equipped to deal with the complexity involved to mediate the behavioural outcomes- considering also hat the legal; and correctional judgements often fail to consider that sexual assault is only one way in which the power of women are subjugated (French- 1992; Gavey- 1997; Graycar & Morgan- 1990). Research conducted by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty into Children (United Kingdom)- examined prevalence levels of sexual violence- and reported that 2.5% of females and 0.4% of males inveterate to being victims of sexual abuse (NSPCC- 2014). These findings furthermore revealed that sexual abuse by an adult or peer during childhood accounted for 25% of sexually abuse cases reported. These incidents included both contact and non-contact forms of sexual abuse (Radford et al.- 2011).

     The recording of sexual offences and the rate of prevalence has always presented a significant challenge and Culter-Nolen-Hoeksema (1991) attributes these discrepancies to the existence of various definitions of sexual violence- contained over several; reported studies. Craig et al.- (2009); Sivarajasingam- Wells- Moore and Shepherd (2010) denote these discrepancies- on the basis of consideration of either one form of abuse- being either physical violence or sexual abuse- whereas Euser- Van Ijzendoorn- Prinzie and Bakermans Kranenburg (2010) cogitate wide-ranging forms of abuse including maltreatment- emotional abuse- neglect and exposure to domestic violence. The aim of this thesis is to explain sexual offending behaviour with an increased understanding of the contribution of attachment theory- its influence on the sexual offender and also looking at possible underlying reasons for offender recidivism.