Mental health articles

Relapse prevention for paedophilia Relapse prevention involves teaching the individual to do the following: identify situations in which they are at high risk of offending behaviour get out of the risky situation consider lapses as something to be learned from identify factors that led to relapse and plan how these could be avoided in the future. The relapse prevention programme described by Marques et al. is typical of its type and the largest study so far conducted, involving over 700 participants. It involved an intensive in-patient programme conducted in a secure forensic hospital and a one-year support programme following discharge. Participants were given sexual education and taught general coping skills such as relaxation, stress and anger management, as well as social skills. More specifi c interventions included identifying the behaviours that preceded offending behaviour and addressing how these may be interrupted. It also dealt with issues of responsibility and minimization. Over a fi ve-year follow-up, this intervention had a known re-offence rate of 10.8 per cent in contrast to the 13 per cent rate among those who did not receive the intervention – a modest difference. The programme was most successful with offenders who had male victims, and less successful with those who had female victims, although why is not clear. Unfortunately, by its eight-year follow-up assessment , there were no differences in outcome between those people who took part in the programme and those that did not. While this is the largest reported study, other studies have reported more positive results. A recent meta-analysis collapsed across 69 studies with a total sample size of 22 181 sex offenders found a 6 per cent reduction in sexual recidivism with treatment.

Tags: paedophilia, relapse prevention