Like many of the mental and medical conditions that are society is plagued with today (alcoholism, schizophrenia, depression, chronic asthma, some sexually transmitted infections and cancers), sexually offending is no different in that there currently is no 100% cure or remedy. The course and outcome of individuals who have sexually offended are highly variable. Some individuals who have crossed a sexual boundary once and receive appropriate treatment might never sexually offend again, while others exhibit a fluctuating pattern of periods of time where they are not engaging in sexually abusive behavior followed by relapse, and others experience a chronically deteriorating course of obsessive-compulsive sexually abusive behavior over many years.
Contemporary cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), however helps offenders learn to control their behavior. By reorganizing and changing the thoughts that rationalize and justify sexually abusive behavior, sex offenders can become more aware of the harm caused to victims and view their behavior differently. As well, sex offenders learn to identify their patterns of behavior, including the people, places, and things that put them at risk for offending. Through avoidance of certain situations, acquiring new coping skills for stress, and learning to meet their emotional and sexual needs in healthy ways, motivated sex offenders can prevent future offending. Although for some sex offenders who continue to be attracted to children, they can learn strategies to avoid acting on their impulses.
Consider these analogies:
When adults get married, they do not stop being attracted to other people. They do stop acting on that attraction, because they think about the commitment of marriage helps them to control their behavior.
For individuals diagnosed with an eating disorder the goal of treatment is not to have the individual stop eating food all together. Instead the goal of treatment is to reduce the number of times the individual engages in the eating disorder. Support the individual in developing a healthy eating and exercise habits. Explore and deal with the shame and guilt associated with the eating disorder.
Likewise, many chemically addicted persons continue to struggle with urges to use drugs or alcohol. Through treatment and recovery, however, many (not all) choose to change their behavior because they are committed to a new, healthy, and productive lifestyle.
Does sex offender treatment really work?
Early studies, conducted in the 70’s and 80’s, were unable to detect differences in recidivism rates between sex offenders who had undergone treatment and those who had not (Furby, Weinrott, & Blackshaw, 1989). This finding was widely publicized, leading to skepticism about the benefits of treatment, and opening the door to punitive public policies. Actually, although the research is not unequivocal, treatment has been found to decrease sex offense recidivism. Recent, statistically sophisticated studies with extremely large combined samples have found that contemporary cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) does help reduce rates of sexual offending by as much as 40% (Hanson, Gordon, Harris, Marques, Murphy, Quinsey, & Seto, 2002). However, treatment does not work equally well for all offenders (like any psychological or mental health treatment – or medical interventions, for that matter). Some research indicates that comprehensive programs and length of time in treatment are also important factors in the effectiveness of treatment (Hall, 1995; Lowden, Hetz, Harrison, Patrick, English, & Pasini-Hill, 2003). Treatment failure is associated with higher recidivism rates, and some research indicates that sex offenders who successfully complete a treatment program re-offend less often than those who do not successfully complete treatment (Marques, Miederanders, Day, Nelson, & Van Ommerman, 2005).