Abstract
This study examined whether the self-esteem of men convicted of a sexual offense was related to reflected self-appraisals and excuse-making. A secondary aim of this study was to explore whether type of offense moderated the relationship between reflected self-appraisal and self-esteem. This study utilized convenience sampling procedures for obtaining participants 18 years and older who were adjudicated guilty of a sexual offense and were attending outpatient treatment for their sexual offense (N = 227). One independent samples t-test and one Pearson correlation were used to analyze the relationship between self-esteem and reflected self-appraisals as well as the theoretical concept of utilizing excuse making to enhance self-esteem. A hierarchical regression was used to test the moderation of offense type between reflected self-appraisals and self-esteem. Of the five main hypotheses proposed two were found to be fully supported by the statistical analyses. The results reaffirmed that men convicted of child sexual offenses have lower levels of self esteem than men convicted of adult sexual offenses. Furthermore, results indicated that reflected self-appraisal and self-esteem were statistically significantly related. Specifically, men who reported higher levels of reflected self-appraisal also indicated higher levels of self-esteem. This finding was the opposite of what was hypothesized.