NCJ Number
217174
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: January-February 2007 Pages: 87-107
Date Published
January 2007
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This paper expands on the practice elements of the Good Lives Model-Comprehensive (GLM-C) of offender rehabilitation, thereby providing a detailed examination of its assessment and treatment implications.
Abstract
The detailed application of the Good Lives Model-Comprehensive (GLM-C) to the kind of therapeutic strategies typically used to treat sexual offenders has revealed how this approach can lead to effective therapy. The GLM-C is a new theory of sexual offender rehabilitation that is seen as quite promising. A virtue of the GLM-C is its ability as a theory to integrate practices and factors already accepted as important in the rehabilitation arena. The advantages of treating sex offenders within the GLM-C framework is that it reminds therapists to keep in mind a number of critical elements of treatment that tend to be underemphasized in the traditional risk management approach. It asks therapists to develop an intervention plan that seeks to capitalize on offenders’ interests and preferences and to equip them with the capabilities they need to realize their goal of rehabilitation. In the GLM-C, an individual is hypothesized to commit criminal offenses because he lacks the capabilities to realize valued outcomes in personally fulfilling and socially acceptable ways. It is suggested that the GLM-C can act as a bridging theory by explaining more fully what it is that offenders seek through antisocial actions. This paper begins by first discussing the notion of rehabilitation and the qualities a good theory of rehabilitation should possess. It briefly describes the principles, etiological assumptions, and general treatment implications of the GLM-C. It outlines in detail the application of this novel perspective to the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders. Lastly, a summary is presented of the major points and some comments on the future application and development of the GLM-C. References