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Tackling Denial in Sex Offenders: A Therapeutic Dilemma Exacerbated by the Criminal Justice System

NCJ Number
136479
Author(s)
B Gocke
Date Published
1991
Length
45 pages
Annotation
Using data collected from extensive, highly structured interviews with six sex offenders in Great Britain -- three attending a community-based treatment group run by psychologists and probation officers and three in custody -- this study examines the role that denial plays in sex offending, the block to treatment it constitutes, and the effect that the criminal justice process itself has on denial.
Abstract
An overview of the social aspects of sexual offenses touches on victim blame, dysfunctional families, subcultural norms, intergenerational transmission, and pathologizing theories. The treatment of individual offenders can take the form of psychotherapy, physiological change, systemic family therapy, and behavioral techniques. Most therapists and analysts agree that denial is a crucial issue in the commission of sexual offenses and subsequent rationalization. Therefore, dealing with denial becomes the central issue in treatment, the success of which will determine the offender's acceptance of responsibility and the avoidance of recidivism, because denial can act as a facilitator to maintain and exacerbate an unacceptable cycle of behavior. Unfortunately, the processing of sex offenders through the criminal justice system can actually encourage the entrenchment of denial and rationalization because of the hostility facing the offender and his need to minimize the severity of the sentence and survive the process. 60 references