Philippine E-Journals

Six male convicted offenders from the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons were interviewed and administered the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to test for the presence or absence of child abuse. Results showed that the male offenders were rated to have experienced one or several forms of abuse: neglect (walang nag-aalaga) , sexual (ni-rape), physical (binubugbog) and / or emotional (ininsulto). Experiences of abuse as well as how this might have contributed to their violent behavior were confirmed during the in -depth interviews with both the offenders and their relatives. All six offenders rationalized that they were never given choices in life and in difficult circumstances beyond their control.