A Model of the Relapse Process in Sexual Offenders

Models of the relapse process set out to provide a rich description of the cognitive, behavioral, motivational, and contextual factors associated with a sexual offense. Theory at this level typically includes an explicit temporal factor and focuses on proximal causes or the how of sexual offending. Pithers's adaptation of the relapse prevention treatment model to sexual offenders is based on a particular view of the relapse process. In this approach, relapse is essentially caused by an inability to cope effectively with high-risk situations. Although this influential perspective has contributed greatly to the treatment of sexual offenders, it suffers from a number of conceptual and empirical problems. In this article, we present a self-regulation model of the relapse process that addresses these problems and accounts for the diversity of relapse pathways.