Treatment of Sex Offenders

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Preface
product of faulty social learning and individuals commit sexual offenses because they have
a number of skill deficits that make it difficult for them to seek reinforcement in socially
acceptable ways. Thus the primary mechanisms underpinning sexual offending are thought
to be social and psychological…. Furthermore, treatment is typically based around an analysis
of individuals’ offending patterns and takes a cognitive-behavioral/relapse prevention
perspective. The major goal is to teach sex offenders the skills to change the way they think,
feel, and act and to use this knowledge to avoid or escape from future high-risk situations.
There are usually discrete treatment modules devoted to the following problem areas: cognitive
distortions, deviant sexual interests, social skill deficits, impaired problem solving,
empathy deficits, intimacy deficits, emotional regulation difficulties, lifestyle imbalance,
and post-offense adjustment or relapse prevention…. (T)he length of treatment programs
vary but for a medium-risk or higher offender will likely be at least 9 months in duration
and frequently quite a bit longer. A treatment program that follows the model described is
likely to produce results with moderately motivated offenders who actively participate in
the program modules. Numerous meta-analyses attest to treatment success producing modest
rates of recidivism (cited in Laws, 2016, in press).
This edited book was designed to explicate and discuss the state of the field. It
will examine what we see as the key challenges. It is designed to have experts in
important specialties give honest evaluations of the strengths and challenges of key
dimensions of the field of sexual offending. In addition, these experts were encouraged
to give their recommendations for the agenda for the future including research
priorities, policy priorities, and funding priorities. It is relevant to understanding
current views on best practices and thus ought to be informative to the practitioner.
We can all agree that the field of sexual offending is both challenging and vitally
important to accomplish its tasks in the most effective way possible.
Victoria, BC, Canada
Reno, NV, USA
D. Richard Laws
William O’Donohue
Reference
Laws, D. R. (2016). Social control of sex offenders: A cultural history . London: Palgrave Macmillan.