sex offenders' own victim issues

[clinedavis]

I am in the process of putting together material to assist S/O's in treatment in dealing with their own abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, neglect). I agree with the idea as stated in the abstract below that victim empathy is not an effective deterrent to recidivism as most of the material with which I am familiar focuses on a cognitive approach (listing symptoms of victims) rather than assisting clients in accessing and coping with the emotional damage done to them by abuse done to them abuse.
(How can clients develop empathy for their victims when they have not developed such for their own abuse?)

I would appreciate suggestions in the formation of this material. I already have the "its not your fault" clip from Good Will Hunting.


Abstract by Mary Jane (Jay) Adams, Ph.D., entitled Victim Issues Key to Effective Sex Offender Treatment. Excellent article.

www.trowbridgefoundation.org/docs/victim_issues_sex_offender_treatment.htm

[kensinger]

Couple things come to mind for raising victim empathy in SO groups.

It's helpful to have someone in group who has personally experienced victimization and is willing to talk about it in front of the others. I recently had a guy in group who had been victimized and worked on that issue in individual with me. When he was more comfortable with how it had affected his life and had lost some of the shame he felt about it for all his life, I asked him to consider sharing it with the group when the time was appropriate. He had, as part of his introduction in group whenever new members came in, stated that he had been abused sexually as a young teen but didn't go into details.

When the time came for another member to talk about his abusing several boys, this man asked if he could role play the victim in a dialog with the other abuser. It was extremely powerful. It also allowed several other members to state that they, too were sexually abused.

The men can learn to see each other as human beings, not just as sex offenders mandated to treatment. I think the atmosphere and culture of the group is important for this to happen. They don't need to go out for coffee after the meeting or socialize but when trust is there, empathy can develop.

Unless there is possibility for personal sharing, you have to go with media like videos or recordings or readings of victim statements. I don't know how effective they are because they just don't have the impact of hearing someone you know speak the words of the aftereffects of the abuse.

We've done surrogate meetings between adolescent abusers and adult survivors. They are very powerful but I don't know how effective they are for the long-term.

I'd be interested in hearing the experiences or resources of others.

There is a powerful written statement by a young adult female that colleague Michael O'Connell posted recently on the ATSA listserv. It may be of some use for this purpose.

tinyurl.com/4rlw5my

Ken

[clinedavis]

Thanks for the response and suggestion, Ken. I have two men in group who have talked about their sexual abuse by males when they were children, and I agree that it is the most productive way to go. It is difficult, however, to get back into this emotional level again in subsequent groups without some "entry portal." Also, as you know, some clients in group have gone through other forms of abuse/neglect, the emotional results of which they have supressed, making it difficult for them to actually know the damage they will do if they recidivate. I am looking for videos, etc., to given gentle proding or provide an "entry portal" to their emotional levels. I would appreciate any suggestions for such avenues that you or others might have used or know of.

[jlooman]

I have found that dealing with offender's abus ein the group tends to be non-productive. Offenders focus on their own victimization rather than their behavour as victimizer. This tends to detract from the purpsoe of sex offender treatment and things get completely derailed. The other issue that comes up is that a prison environment is not conducive to resolving abuse issues.

Jan

[clinedavis]

I appreciate the comment, Jan. I am in community practice rather than in a prison practice. To sort of paraphrase Jay Adams, whose abstract I cited above, I wonder how we can expect our clients to understand the damage they have done to their victims if we don't let them know that we take seriously the damage their own abuse did to them. And surely, the damage done by any kind of childhood abuse is a factor on the individual's later abuse of others. Please notice that I say factor, not cause. I make this very clear in my sessions. I also have a question about the purpose of S/O treatment, if it is not to assist clients in making genuine changes in themselves and thereby becoming less of a risk to the community.

[PMH]

Reminds of a guy that I evaluated for civil commitment. He reported no history of abuse. When asked about his first sexual experience, it had happened at the age of 12 with his 17 year old baby-sitter.

He'd never made the connection between his too-early sexual experiences and his subsequent promiscuity leading to the offenses that put him in prison and now at risk for civil commitment.

-PMH

[kensinger]

Possibly the environment (outpatient v prison) or the population (probationer v inmate) may have some effect on how you use victimization histories to enhance empathy in offenders.

I think however, that without addressing the victimization issues at some level, whether in the community or the institution, treatment is not complete.

Years ago, in applying the concepts of CBT treatment with offenders and looking at the patterns of self-defeating or destructive behaviors of many survivors who did not sexually offend, it looked to me that many of the principles of offender work were similar to treating survivors.

I think there are many similarities in the "assault cycle" and "relapse prevention" for offenders that have application with the victim/survivor population. Here's a link to an article I wrote for the MaleSurvivor website (www.malesurvivor.org) which may be helpful in applying to an offender with victimization history:

www.malesurvivor.org/ArchivedPages/singer2.html

Ken

[clinedavis]

Thanks Ken, good article. I found it much easier to read when I cut and pasted it into Word and then enlarged it from 6.5 point printing.