Abstract:
Despite the fact that the majority of Child Sex Offenders (CSOs) do not reoffend (Hanson & Bussière, 1998), very little is known about what supports and motivates CSOs to maintain their desistance. While the Relapse Prevention Model of CSO treatment (Marlatt, 1985; Pithers, 1990; Ward & Hudson, 2000) suggests that desisting CSOs are vigilant for risk and motivated by a desire to avoid reoffending, the Good Lives Model (Laws & Ward, 2011; Ward & Marshall, 2004) suggests that desisting CSOs have replaced sexual offending with pro-social means of attaining their goal of a satisfying life. To date, the views of CSOs have not been included in the consideration of these matters. The present study sought to investigate what a group of men who received treatment related to sexual offending against children described as being the motives and supports for their desistance. Men from two New Zealand community treatment programmes who had been living in the community apparently without reoffending were interviewed and the transcripts analysed via thematic analysis. Consistent with previous rehabilitation literature, participants described a number of supports for their desistance. Stigma and negative consequences were described by participants as both undermining and motivating desistance. Participants appeared to use both risk-focused, avoidancebased motives, and ‘good life’-focused, approach-based motives to understand and structure their desistance, and thus both Relapse Prevention and the Good Lives Model were required to describe their desistance processes. Consistent with previous research, participants also implicated processes of self-image in their desistance (Maruna, 2001). However this process appeared to differ to that identified in general and violent offenders, supporting the need for specific research into CSO desistance. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are considered.
