| This is a descriptive study of factors associated with sex offenders not recidivating. Sex offenders who have received therapy in a cognitive behavioral outpatient program, and who have not recidivated, participated in a structured interview to explore what assisted them in the interventions they received in being successful in not relapsing and factors that might be associated with their sex-offending behavior. The variables measured were self-reports of: reasons they have succeeded in not reoffending, their involvement in therapy, their reports of what has or has not helped in therapy, changes they have seen in themselves since they began treatment, describing themselves prior to and after treatment, information they think therapists who work with sex offenders should know, what they think in their past contributed to their sex offending, their criminal history, their descriptions of their childhood, information about their relationships with significant others or marriages, their children, their education, and information that they think should have been included in the interview that was not. Thematic coding was used to analyze the data. The perceptions of participants regarding what has caused treatment to be effective for them supported the previous literature on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment and the Relapse Prevention Model for adult males who sexually offend minors. The participants discussed the importance of having a safe, secure place to discuss their behaviors and to have others in similar situations to talk with. They detailed the importance of the group treatment process to their progress. Included in this process were trust of other group members, listening to others in the group, participation in and attendance at long-term group therapy, and the group members displaying honesty and monitoring risk. They used the group therapy situation as a place to acquire feedback from peers and therapists regarding inappropriate beliefs and behaviors. Knowledge of the WAVE from the perspectives of sex offenders was expanded. The results support the WAVE. Comparisons of the findings to other studies are made. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. |
