Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb;36(1):76-106.
doi: 10.1177/10790632231159075. Epub 2023 Mar 9.

A Grounded Theory Model of Relationship Decision-Making in Non-Offending Partners of Individuals Accused of Sexual Offending

Lea C Kamitz  1 , Theresa A Gannon  1
Affiliations

A Grounded Theory Model of Relationship Decision-Making in Non-Offending Partners of Individuals Accused of Sexual Offending

Lea C Kamitz et al. Sex Abuse. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Non-offending partners of individuals who have committed sexual offenses often choose to end their relationship given the many negative consequences they face as a result of their partner's offending behavior. Despite a focus on relationships in rehabilitation frameworks and the importance of the relationship for the individual who has offended and their partner, research has thus far failed to examine the process underlying why non-offending partners decide to stay in or leave their relationship following an offense. In this study we developed the first descriptive model of relationship decision-making in non-offending partners. Twenty-three individuals whose current or previous partners were accused of sexual offending were interviewed about affective, behavioral, cognitive, and contextual factors contributing to their decision to stay with or leave their partner. Participants' narrative accounts were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Our resulting model consists of four main periods: (1) background factors, (2) relationship factors, (3) finding out, and (4) relationship decision-making. Clinical implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: grounded theory; non-offending partners; relationship dissolution; romantic relationships; sexual offending.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Period 1: Background factors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Period 2: Relationship factors.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Period 3: Finding out.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Period 4: Relationship decision-making.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Amato P. R., Previti D. (2003). People’s reasons for divorcing: Gender, social class, the life course, and adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 24(5), 602–626. 10.1177/0192513x03024005002 - DOI
    1. Azzopardi C., Alaggia R., Fallon B. (2018). From Freud to feminism: Gendered constructions of blame across theories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 27(3), 254–275. 10.1080/10538712.2017.1390717 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bailey D. J. S. (2018). A life of grief: An exploration of disenfranchised grief in sex offender significant others. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(3), 641–667. 10.1007/s12103-017-9416-4 - DOI
    1. Bonta J., Andrews D. A. (2017). The psychology of criminal conduct (6th ed.). Routledge.
    1. Brennan C. L., Swartout K. M., Cook S. L., Parrott D. J. (2018). A qualitative analysis of offenders’ emotional responses to perpetrating sexual assault. Sexual Abuse, 30(4), 393–412. 10.1177/1079063216667917 - DOI - PubMed