Let Him Who Is without Sin Cast the First Stone: Religious Struggle among Persons Convicted of Sexually Offending

Religiousness and spirituality have been identified as important factors in promoting desistance from sexual offending and as helpful coping resources with negative psychological consequences related to public registration. However, the potential mental health benefits, and detriments, of religiousness and spirituality for persons convicted of sexually offending have not been widely examined. Given the moral implications of their behavior and stigmatization by society, including from religious and spiritual communities, this study aimed to examine levels of religious struggle and their associations with symptoms of mental health among 30 men on the Maryland Sex Offense Registry. Relative to the normative sample, the mean level of spiritual transcendence, constructive perceptions of spirituality that develop within social, cultural, and educational contexts, was significantly lower within this sample. Conversely, religious struggle mean scores indicated that the men in this sample experienced significantly greater difficulties relative to God and their faith community. Greater levels of religious struggle were significantly related to higher neuroticism, greater self-reported shame, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness, as well as lower levels of self-compassion. Based on these preliminary findings, religious struggles may adversely influence the mental health of persons convicted of sexually offending. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of the associations between religiousness, spirituality, and mental health in this population. Future directions for research and clinical implications for mental health providers, including spiritually informed treatment approaches with persons convicted of sexually offending, are discussed.