Sex Offender Treatment

682 Words3 Pages
There have been numerous treatment methods that have been used by psychologists in order to reduce recidivism in sex offenders. One of these methods is didactic treatment. Didactic methods are psychological based treatments designed to provide useful information to sex offenders that will allow them to educate themselves on those topics such as resisting urges so that they can reach their treatment goals. Treatment programs aim to change distorted cognitions, enhance empathy, increase self esteem, develop positive coping skills, and providing knowledge to offenders that will help them after treatment ends (Saleh, Grudzinskas, Bradford, & Brodsky, 2009). Didactic methods are also less costly than other sex offender treatments. This approach equips the sex offender with the skills needed to succeed after treatment ends as well. The educational aspects of didactic methods allow offenders to learn what their triggers are and come up with goals that will allow them to meet their needs. There are also some weaknesses that didactic treatment methods possess. It has been criticized to be too complex and sophisticated for some of the sex offender population. It has been argued that the treatment’s main focus should not be to avoid certain triggers, but to set goals and healthy coping mechanisms (Saleh, et al., 2009). Avoidance strategies can be very difficult and hard to stick with, and results in lowering the self esteem of the offender. Another weakness of the didactic treatment models is that they do not take into account individual factors and treatment may not be really effective because of this (Saleh, et al., 2009). Chemical castration is aimed to reduce recidivism in sex offenders, as it has been thought that reducing or suppressing the production of testosterone will suppress an individual’s deviant fantasies, sex drive, sexual behavior, and
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