NCJ Number
176505
Journal
Journal of Aggression Volume: ltreatment and Trauma Issue: Dated: Pages: 1 (1997)-354
Date Published
1997
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes the professional literature on the characteristics of incest offenders, treatment options for them, and treatment effectiveness based on recidivism data.
Abstract
The description of the characteristics of incest offenders focuses on gender, personality, sexual orientation, number of victims, patterns of sexual arousal, and neurological anomalies. A discussion of treatment options for incest offenders addresses individual, group, and family therapy; psychoeducational skills training; behavioral treatments; chemical castration; and relapse prevention. All treatment programs share the common goal of eliminating further sexual abuse. They also agree that the offender must take responsibility for his actions. Although all of the treatment programs aim to help the men gain control of their behavior, they use different approaches for achieving it. To date, no one treatment approach has been found to be more effective than the others. Thus, consideration should be given to all the basic approaches in the development of standards for this emerging treatment effort. Currently, a therapist's selection of a treatment approach depends on the therapist's particular theoretical orientation regarding the reasons for incestuous behavior; for example, clinicians who believe offenders misinterpret the reactions of victims of abuse set treatment goals designed to increase the offender's cognitive and affective awareness of the harmful effects of incest on victims; and clinicians who believe that incest results from faulty family dynamics design programs that help offenders develop awareness and insight into the personal and family dynamics that contributed to incest. There is not yet sufficient evaluation data to determine the long-term success of various treatment strategies. A few programs have begun to publish evaluation data. Future research will build on these preliminary findings to improve the organization of services for offenders. More information is needed about the type of offenders who benefit from particular treatment techniques or a combination of techniques and under what conditions treatment is most effective. 58 references