A Brief History of Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Approaches to Sexual Offender Treatment: Part 2. The Modern Era

Abstract

This paper is the second in our attempt to highlight the major influences, trends, and emerging issues in cognitive behavioral approaches to treating sexual offenders. In this paper the developments from 1970 until the present are covered.

Differentiating Sexual Offender Type on Measures of Impulsivity and Compulsivity

“…It can additionally be inferred that within this sample sexual compulsivity appears to have a relatively bigger difference across people who offend against children than does sexual impulsivity. Current cognitive-behavioral treatment programs focus on a variety of issues including cognitive issues and distortions, sexual deviancy and intimacy issues, improvement of social functioning skills, life skills to increase hobbies and manage stressors, and finally relapse prevention (Marshall & Laws, 2003). Although issues of compulsivity may be indirectly addressed in one or more of these broader topics during treatment, the results from this study indicate that sexually compulsive thoughts and behavior could theoretically lead to some of the cognitive distortions commonly found among child molesters, suggesting a need for treatment focus.…”

The Utility of the Random Controlled Trial for Evaluating Sexual Offender Treatment: The Gold Standard or an Inappropriate Strategy?

“…To some extent these observations justify the 1990s expansions of treatment targets (see Marshall and Laws 2003), and the more recently reported shifts in the approach to treatment (see Marshall et al 2005Marshall et al , 2006. The recent report of an evaluation of the positive and future-goal-oriented program described by Marshall et al (2006) reveals a sexual offense recidivism rate of 3.2% in a group of 534 sexual offenders at risk for 5.4 years where the expected rate, based on actuarial measures, was 16.8%.…”

Atendimento a mães de vítimas de abuso sexual e abusadores: considerações teóricas e práticas

“…Eles vão desde o tratamento com medicamentos (psicofármacos e reguladores hormonais) usados isoladamente ou combinados com psicoterapia, ou ainda intervenções psicológicas realizadas sem o auxílio destes medicamentos. Podem ser realizadas até intervenções cirúrgicas, como a castração (Marshall & Laws, 2003b).…”