Working with Sex Offenders

A Guide for Practitioners

Daniel Wilcox, Marguerite Donathy, Rosie Gray, Clark Baim, Daniel Wilcox, Marguerite Donathy, Rosie Gray, Clark Baim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138933545
• eBook ISBN: 9781317376231
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Working with Sex Offenders is a unique book which brings together leading practitioners in the field to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date distillation of relevant guidance to assist anyone who works with sex offenders.

The authors examine topics including assessment, treatment, supervision and safeguarding. Skills and strategies for successful engagement with offenders are a key focus of the book, as well as improving understanding of underpinning factors associated with offending and desistance.

This volume, which is derived from well-received presentations hosted by the UK's National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) over a number of years, also offers a detailed examination of individual, organisational and societal roles in relation to identifying and preventing sexual abuse in our communities.

Using case examples throughout, Working with Sex Offenders will be essential reading for all professionals involved in the management and treatment of sex offenders.

Part I
Introduction

Chapter 1
An introduction to working with individuals who commit sex offences

Daniel T. Wilcox and Marguerite L. Donathy

Introduction

This book is based on selected lectures and workshops provided for the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA), Midlands branch, from 2007 through 2015. These presentations have been developed into chapters and updated by the presenters and authors for the publication of this book. Throughout this period, the aim of these NOTA training events has been to inform and advance learning in the field of sex offender work amongst professionals holding the responsibility for managing, evaluating and treating these individuals in our society.

The book begins with this chapter (Part I) offering an introduction to working with sexual offenders. Presentations with common themes are then divided into identified sections and set out under the following broad categories: Part II, ‘Discussion of assessment methods and issues’; Part III, ‘Therapeutic preparation, skills and models’; Part IV, ‘Working with different types of offenders’; and Part V, ‘Systems and organisational safety issues’. The volume concludes with a final chapter (Part VI) exploring future training needs in the sex offender field.

A number of books about working with sex offenders are currently in circulation, and many have a narrower focus than this publication. A few examples include Brown (2005) Treating Sex Offenders: An Introduction to Sex Offender Treatment Programmes; Browne et al. (2016) Assessments in Forensic Practice: A Handbook; Harrison & Rainey (2013) The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Legal and Ethical Aspects of Sex Offender Treatment and Management; Laws and Ward (2010) Desistance from Sex Offending: Alternatives to Throwing Away the Keys; O’Donohue (2014) Case Studies in Sexual Deviance: Toward Evidence Based Practice (International Perspectives on Forensic Mental Health); and Wilcox, Garrett & Harkins (2015) Sex Offender Treatment: A Case Study Approach to Issues and Interventions. We further note that this text has been supported by the NOTA National Executive Committee and consider that their endorsement conveys a de facto acknowledgement that this book addresses continuing professional development in ways that these other volumes, which are more focused on specific issues, may not.

The cross-section of attendees at our NOTA events reflects the broad base of the intended readership as each presentation is designed to inform listeners and readers about key practice issues in engaging with sexual offenders and to provide practical tools for improving their intervention strategies in working with these individuals. As the NOTA events were developed to support and improve practice across the range of attendees from novice to expert, the book chapters have adopted this same approach, hopefully improving the knowledge base of those individuals less experienced in sex offender work and enhancing the quality of engagement amongst those with considerable experience.

This book captures current NOTA-based continuing professional development efforts. It includes the presentations the editors considered to have the highest practice impact, enabling this training to be disseminated more broadly to professionals and post-graduate students who are in the forensic field and who have an interest or active involvement in working with sexual offenders.

Discussion of assessment methods and issues

Part II of the book includes four chapters, beginning with David Glasgow’s examination of cognitive sexual interest and the role of aversion as links to sexual offending that have been inadequately addressed thus far in assessment, formulation and intervention work with abusers. The next chapter, by Vincent Egan, investigates the underpinning role of obsessionality in some sexual offending, with both of these chapters providing insights into understanding sexual offending. These insights may otherwise fail to be taken into account in working with these individuals.

Also in this section, Phil Rich describes developments in the assessment of risk in sexually abusive young people. He describes developments in the field and current perspectives on risk assessment, and also focuses on protective factors (e.g. strengths and assets that juvenile offenders may possess), giving advice about assessment, integration and individualisation to inform and improve practice. The section on assessment methods and issues concludes with Marcella Leonard and Marguerite Donathy’s chapter highlighting the need to understand ‘normal’ sexual functioning in order to more comprehensively assess sexual deviancy. Their chapter examines sexual identity, drive and functioning, as well as the impact of age, and considers paraphilias, psychosexual dysfunction and the need to take all of these factors into account and to address them more openly with offenders in order to develop effective treatment.

Therapeutic preparation, skills and models

Part III addresses the acquisition of more effective treatment skills and approaches to intervention. Dan Wilcox and Rosie Gray explore interview aims when engaging with sexual offenders and the benefits of undertaking a thorough personal history interview, as well as a mental-status screening exercise. They describe the benefits of employing this structure and examine how these strategies can be brought to bear to improve open and effective engagement. In the following chapter, Jayne Allam and Clark Baim describe how understanding attachment strategies in adult sex offenders can influence the choice of intervention style and inform professional thinking about risk.

The next chapter in this section, by Roger Kennington and Gail McGregor, examines empathy and, in a detailed discussion, endeavours to define it as well as to consider whether it is a legitimate treatment target in its various manifestations. The section concludes with Liam and Bill Marshall’s chapter, which focuses on motivating sex offenders to enter and effectively engage in treatment. The chapter provides extensive guidance and advice as it explores the authors’ perceptions about intervention strategies that block motivation to engage, as well as their perceptions of strengths-based treatment approaches that serve to more readily capture the client’s commitment to engaging in treatment and desisting from future offending.

Working with different types of offenders

Part IV examines offender types, with Steve Davies, Mary Sharpe and Dan Wilcox focusing their chapter on understanding ‘flow’ and its impact on the assessment, treatment and supervision of men who commit internet-related sexual offences. The authors explore the context of such online offending and the experience of offenders, over prolonged periods, whilst engaging in this activity. The effects of Internet pornography are examined, along with the related addiction process that applies to offenders in these circumstances in many instances. The authors advise that the treatment of cybersex offenders must take adequate account of the ‘flow’ phenomenon and of the addiction process in order to conduct tailored interventions with these individuals.

In the next chapter, Donathy and Wilcox examine the challenges of working with educators who sexually offend. They undertake a review of the relevant history, together with prevalence rates and case examples designed to inform practice. Leam Craig then provides a chapter about working with sexual offenders who have intellectual disabilities. This is a comprehensive chapter, offering aetiological explanations of sexual offending behaviour in these individuals, examining pathways to offending and describing the evolution of treatment programmes that are not merely adapted from mainstream interventions but also developed through a careful analysis of risk, need and responsivity issues (Bonta & Andrews 2007). Craig also explores recidivism factors, predictors and the role of structured professional judgment in guiding this process.

The last chapter in this section was written by Tanya Garrett and concerns working with sexual offenders who have mental health difficulties. Garrett examines prevalence and offers detailed intervention guidance.

Systems and organisational safety issues

Part V addresses organisational and environmental factors that affect offending, with Donald Findlater detailing a theoretical framework for community safeguarding. He draws from research concerning the commission and prevention of crime more broadly, highlighting that a substantial amount of sexual offending is situational and opportunistic, with evidence that most sex offenders are neither predisposed nor determined to commit their offences (Smallbone & Wortley 2004). In relation to this, Findlater describes the successes that have arisen out of programmes such as Circles of Support and Accountability (Wilson et al. 2009) and Stop it Now! (Denis & Whitehead 2013). The chapter examines situational protection factors and the need for ownership of shared accountability across lay and professional members of the public. Concluding, the author provides a comprehensive framework for enhanced safeguarding and prevention.

In the following chapter, Gray and Garrett explore professional sexual misconduct focusing on boundary violations in therapeutic work. They explore factors associated with such offending, as well as prevalence and the implications for managing such risk. The section concludes with Jon Brown’s chapter setting out key elements of the strategy of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for addressing child sexual abuse. Brown initially defines the scope of the problem with a helpful, if disturbing, discussion of the prevalence of child sexual abuse. He then sets out the central tenets, the NSPCC’s ‘building blocks’ for campaigning, conscience raising and the direction of effective community-based resources to protect and inform through involving education, social care agencies, community services and religious organisations in an integrated and responsive manner.

Concluding thoughts

The book concludes with Part VI, a chapter in which Baim and Gray focus on their perception of future training needs for professionals working with sex offenders. They target five key areas or domains, representing what they view as a basic core of skills and knowledge from which long-term competency and practice can be fostered and maintained. This vision for training is multi-faceted, wherein the authors highlight the need to understand sexual offending behaviour as fully as possible and to develop therapy skills, qualities and values that can be effectively brought to bear when working with each individual offender. The authors also emphasise the need for a systematic, comprehensive and integrated approach to be applied in each case, wherein assessment, case formulation and treatment planning are carefully developed. Further, the offender is supported by an inter-agency and inter-professional collaboration through the treatment process and into the individual’s future life of greater independence and more prosocial adjustment.

References

Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2007). Risk-need-responsivity model for offender assessment and rehabilitation. Ottawa, ON: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.

Brown, S. (2005). Treating sex offenders: an introduction to sex offender treatment programmes. Devon, UK: Willan Publishing.

Browne, K. D., Craig, L. A., & Beech, A. R., eds. (2016). Assessments in forensic practice: a handbook. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Denis, D., & Whitehead, H. (2013). Stop it Now! UK and Ireland helpline and campaign report 2002–2012. London, UK: Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

Harrison, K., & Rainey, B., eds. (2013). The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of legal and ethical aspects of sex offender treatment and management. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Laws, D., & Ward, T. (2010). Desistance from sex offending: alternatives to throwing away the keys. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

O’Donohue, W. T., ed. (2014). Case studies in sexual deviance: toward evidence based practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Smallbone, S., & Wortley, R. (2004). Onset, persistence and versatility of offending among adult males convicted of sexual offenses against children. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 16, 285–298.

Part II
Discussion of assessment methods and issues

Chapter 2
Cognitive sexual interest and aversion

Are these ‘missing links’ in sex offender assessment, formulation and intervention?

David Glasgow

Introduction

For many years almost all models of human behaviour and psychological problems have sought to synthesise physiological, behavioural and cognitive components. General and individualised formulations of psychological problems almost invariably feature all three elements interacting in quite complex ways. Interventions designed to change human behaviour are increasingly dominated by a focus on the cognitive correlates of problem behaviours. Even notionally rival therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive analytic therapy (Ryle & Kerr 2002) and schema therapy (Young et al. 2003) have a great deal in common and fall within the large family of approaches focusing on cognition.

The ultimate purpose of this chapter is to consider the current understanding of the relationship between cognitive aspects of sexual interest and sexual behaviour. To some, this might appear to be a self-evident, almost tautological, sentence. There is a wide presumption amongst lay people that sexual behaviour reflects and derives from sexual arousal, and that sexual offending and sexually inappropriate behaviour therefore inevitably arise from deviant sexual interest. Indeed, for many years, a not dissimilar view prevailed amongst professionals working with sex offenders. The true picture, insofar as it can be determined at present, is rather more complex and intriguing.

It is well worth taking some time to consider the history and evolution of understanding in relation to this issue. It is true that little historical writing on sexual interest and behaviour has had any obvious impact on modern theories and practice of working with sex offenders. Unless one is specifically interested in how sex is presented in literature throughout history, the vast majority of publications up to the Victorian period, and arguably through much of the twentieth century, can be ignored. Almost all can be categorised as pornography, proscriptive forbiddance or prescriptive direction of sexual behaviour. Of course, the history of pornography is itself a legitimate area of study, offering an indirect measure of changes in sexual interests over time. Nevertheless, pornography as source material does not systematically address the relationship between sexual interest and behaviour. Proscriptive and prescriptive publications offering advice on what sexual behaviour should be disallowed and sanctioned have, of course, continued throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, albeit with some evolution of the basis of the advice.

Relevant history

Before the Victorian era, advice and instruction almost invariably sprang from religious sources and were preoccupied with morals and sin. During the Victorian era, faith-based sources of written material continued unabated but became entangled with rival ideas of both the ‘scientific’ and clinical prescription of human sexual behaviour. Nevertheless, it would be an oversimplification to imagine that clear battle lines were drawn between objective science, psychopathology and concepts of ‘sin’. The sources referred to within Victorian publications included classic...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• PART I Introduction
• PART II Discussion of assessment methods and issues
• PART III Therapeutic preparation, skills and models
• PART IV Working with different types of offenders
• PART V Systems and organisational safety issues
• PART VI Concluding thoughts
• Index