The role of perception of the world as a dangerous place in sexual offending against children: Examining the conceptualisation of the Dangerous World Implicit Theory

The implicit theories theory has been one of the most influential single-factor theories explaining the role of cognitive distortions in sexual offending against children (Dangerfield, Ildeniz, & Ó Ciardha, 2020; Ward, 2000; Ward, Polaschek, & Beech, 2006). The dangerous world implicit theory is one of the most consistently hypothesised implicit theories across different offender groups (e.g., Beech, Fisher, & Ward, 2005; Ó Ciardha & Gannon, 2012; Ward & Keenan, 1999). It refers to the core belief that the world is a dangerous place in which other people are perceived as threatening, abusive and rejecting (Ward & Keenan, 1999). Ward and Keenan proposed two versions of this theory based on the beliefs that: (1) one needs to fight back in order to achieve control over others' threatening and abusive behaviour, and (2) unlike adults who are perceived as threatening, children are seen as safe and dependable; capable of understanding one's needs and sexual desires as well as willing to gratify them. The primary goal of this thesis is to unpack and examine the conceptualisation of the dangerous world implicit theory by Ward and Keenan (1999). A series of six studies (both quantitative and qualitative) were conducted, examining the potential sub-constructs within the dangerous world implicit theory, the similarities between those and other psychological constructs in the wider literature as well as the development and the role of the dangerous world implicit theory in sexual offending against children. Overall, results suggested that the concept of dangerous world implicit theory is multi-dimensional and some of the dimensions may be developed as a result of early adverse experiences in life. The proposed multi-dimensional model in this thesis offers a unique alternative framework for understanding the concept of a dangerous world implicit theory.