Victim Empathy and Sex Offender Therapy

Paper Summary:

This paper addresses current trends in therapy for sex offenders that are based on developing empathy for the victim. This paper cites literature which shows overwhelmingly that therapists believe "victim empathy" if approached with a well-trained, informed and experienced professional, has more positive outcomes than other methods. The writer concludes that effective therapy involves some sort of meeting, under therapeutic circumstances, for the victim and the offender.

From the Paper:

"Meanwhile, Adams suggests that "victim empathy has long been considered an important dynamic variable in sex offender treatment," and as a result of this history of victim empathy being incorporated into therapy, "most treatment programs have modules designed to increase victim empathy." Adams goes on, however, to assert that "most" victim empathy treatment modules are "primarily cognitive" and as a result, the offender fine-tunes an "appropriate verbal response" but no real changes occur within the offender's emotional self. That doesn't mean, however, that there is no value in victim empathy, since some studies Adams is familiar with show "a relationship between a person's capacity to experience and express their own painful emotions and the capacity to respond sympathetically to the emotional pain of another.""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adams, Jay. (2003). Victim Issues Key To Effective Sex Offender Treatment. Trowbridge Foundation / Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 10(1), Retrieved June 13, 2006, from http://www.trowbridgefoundation.org.
• Braxton, Harrison. (2004). Empathic Encounter: The Relationship Between Self-Reported Empathy, Process, and Outcome in a Restorative Justice Program. VOMA Connections, Number 14, Retrieved June 14, 2006, from http://www.voma.org/connect.shtml.
• Carich, Mark S., & Kassel, Mark E., & Stone, Mark H. (2001). Enhancing Social Interest in Sexual Offenders. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 57(1), 18-25.
• Hannem, Stacey, & Petrunik, Michael. (2004). Canada's Circles of Support and Accountability: A Community Justice Initiative For High-Risk Sex Offenders. Corrections Today, 66(7), Retrieved June 13, 2006, from Academic Search Elite.
• Hanson, Karl R. (2003). Empathy deficits of sexual offenders: A conceptual model. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 9(1), 13-23. ISSN 1355-2600.

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