Brief Therapy for a Serious Sex Offender

Abstract

Brief Therapy (BT) has been shown to be effective in criminal population, but its effectiveness on the treatment of sex offenders was rarely reported. This study focuses on the case of one serious sex offender to examine the potential effectiveness of BT in the treatment. The client was a man in his 60s with multiple incapacitated rape offenses against women in their 20s. Seven inperson therapies were conducted within a prison. Therapies revealed that the client’s sex crime behaviors were motivated by his personal goal of autonomy. Further, running was found to be an alternative behavior through which his goal could be achieved without engaging in sex crimes. This case suggests that a solution-focused BT approach may be effective in the treatment of sex crime offenders. It also demonstrates the importance of clarifying the offender’s personal values and transforming the values to prevent sex offence. Adding treatment protocols to address value transformations may further increase the effectiveness of BT on sex offences.