A key component of the functional engagement of child sex offenders in a group-based programme is the disclosure of certain personal information.Such information is required to be of a type and presented in a way that facilitates open exchange in the group, promoting understanding of the presenter's offence pattern and conveying his sole responsibility for the offending. The model explained in this paper, based on an outcome from a grounded theory study, describes in detail four distinct orientations to such disclosure. Each is associated with a particular style of managing the disclosure encounter. Three of these disclosure management styles can be described as essentially "resistant" in nature, but only one is overtly oppositional. The two other "resistant" styles of disclosure management emerge as more covert and perhaps less readily identifiable expressions of reluctance. The implications of the model for work with this population and in more general settings are discussed.

This study explores the therapeutic engagement experiences of men who have sexually offended against children and who are involved in a prototypical prison-based group treatment programme. The study examined factors relating to the therapeutic engagement of the offender in treatment, and in particular, the impact of the "out-of-group" time between sessions. The findings, although tentative, suggest that between formal therapy sessions, clients of the programme make significant movement either toward or away from engagement in the therapy. The implications of these processes with respect to clinical practice and the development of offender services are discussed.

Sexual offender treatment programs are often facilitated in secure settings such as prisons or psychiatric hospitals, which are not ideal environments for such treatment.Arguably, however, when these environments are structured as therapeutic communities (TCs), opportunities are created to enhance the effectiveness of treatment. We describe the concept of a therapeutic community, its operating principles and rationale, as well as the benefits and rationale for establishing TCs in conjunction with cognitive behavioral treatment with sexual offenders. We discuss this in terms of the potential of TCs to improve targeting of treatment content; to enhance treatment process; to provide optimal environments for therapeutic gain; and to provide a broad therapeutic framework for treating sexual offenders. We review and summarize what evidence exists for the use of TCs with both non-sexual offenders and sexual offenders. Finally, we highlight the gaps in our knowledge of the use of TCs in order to inspire further empirical and conceptual consideration of these issues .

It is widely observed that child sexual offenders typically exhibit considerable reluctance to self-disclose at a level that reflects the full reality of their offending. Their successful engagement in relapse prevention-based programs is therefore problematic. This paper describes a study involving men undertaking a prototypical group treatment program, facing the challenge of revealing to others the details of their offense process. A procedure was developed to access their covert responses at the time of this encounter. From a grounded theory analysis, participants were found to employ various strategies to manage situations where self-disclosure was required. Four distinct disclosure management styles emerged: exploratory, oppositional, evasive, and placatory; the latter three of which appear unfavorable to effective engagement in treatment. As well as suggesting ways of influencing disclosure management style, analysis indicated that it might be possible to predict these different orientations during routine assessment.

There is now a considerable literature on the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders.There exists another substantial literature on therapeutic groupwork and its relevance to a range of clinical populations. These bodies of work have made reference to the other in terms of their mutual relevance. However, there has been no comprehensive attempt to apply groupwork theory and principles systematically to work with sex offenders. While this work is generally carried out using a group format and the application of groupwork principles is enthusiastically promoted in the field, the application is underdeveloped both empirically and even more so conceptually. As a result, practices vary greatly. We argue here that a systematic and integrated consideration of the application of groupwork methodology to the treatment of sex offenders has the potential to significantly enhance treatment effectiveness. We conclude with implications for training and clinical practice.