Summary

This book aims to provide an introduction and overview of sex offender treatment programmes, designed for students and practitioners coming to this field. It seeks to describe the development, theoretical underpinnings, treatment goals and operation of cognitive-behavioural and other programmes to an audience unfamiliar with this form of rehabilitation. In addition, it aims to examine the effectiveness of these programmes and the difficulties associated with assessing this, the public response to treatment and also the effects on staff responsible for implementing them. The book is concerned particularly to assess the operation of sex offender treatment programmes in the UK context, considering also the issues associated with implementing programmes developed in other contexts, especially the USA and Canada. It will be of interest to practitioners, particularly those who are beginning work on sex offender treatment programmes, or others (such as health workers, social workers, probation officers) who come into contact with these programmes indirectly.