Relapse Prevention:

The treatment of sexual aggressives (i.e., rapists and child molesters) is aimed not at “curing” the offender but at helping the individual to control his behavior. The concept of control involves the active participation of the offender in a behavior change process and reinforces the fact that continued abstinence from offending requires the offender's continued attention. This paper describes Relapse Prevention (RP), a cognitive-behavioral model for helping the sex offender to gain control over his behavior, thus preventing the occurrence of a reoffense. RP attempts to help the offender maintain abstinence by identifying the decisions that place him at risk for offending (apparently irrelevant decisions, or AIDs), the situations that threaten his sense of self-control over his sexual behavior (high-risk situations), and the cognitive and affective precipitants in his offense pattern. Through multimodal techniques, this perspective proposes to assist offenders in enhancing control of their behavior by improving strategies to cope with their offense pattern. Specific RP assessment and treatment procedures are presented with an accompanying case illustration of their application.