This topical book explores social work practice with people who have sexually offended. It addresses the emotional impacts of 'facing the sex offender', the importance of values and ethics in practice, it reviews popular and academic understandings of sex offenders and sex crimes It engages with current practice issues, including assessment and interventions, working in an inter-professional context and supporting workers. Written in an accessible style, and integrating practice exercises throughout the book helps readers reflect on theory, practice and developing emotional resilience. It will appeal to students, practitioners, policy makers and academics, in and beyond the discipline of social work.

This structured yet flexible manual presents an innovative group treatment approach that targets deficits in self-regulation—a central problem for sex offenders. Safe Offender Strategies (SOS) comprises 10 evidence-based modules that teach participants the skills to desist from problem behaviors, manage their emotions and impulses, and break unhealthy relationship patterns. Motivational enhancement and validation techniques are woven throughout this collaborative treatment. SOS can be used with a range of clients—including high-risk offenders and those with mental illness or intellectual disabilities—in institutional or outpatient settings. Fifteen reproducible forms and worksheets can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

The 1990s witnessed a flurry of legislative initiatives—most notably, “Megan’s Law”—designed to control a population of sex offenders (child abusers) widely reviled as sick, evil, and incurable. In Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control, Diana Rickard provides the reader with an in-depth view of six such men, exploring how they manage to cope with their highly stigmatized role as social outcasts. The six men discussed in the book are typical convicted sex offenders—neither serial pedophiles nor individuals convicted of the type of brutal act that looms large in public perceptions about sex crimes. Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control explores how these individuals, who have been cast as social pariahs, construct their sense of self. How does being labeled in this way and controlled by measures such as Megan’s Law affect one’s identity and sense of social being? Unlike traditional criminological and psychological studies of this population, this book frames their experiences in concepts of both deviance and identity, asking how men so highly stigmatized cope with the most extreme form of social marginality. Placing their stories within the context of the current culture of mass incarceration and zero-tolerance, Rickard provides a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between public policy and lived experience, as well as an understanding of the social challenges faced by this population, whose re-integration into society is far from simple or assured. Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control makes a significant contribution to our understanding of sex offenders, offering a unique window into how individuals make meaning out of their experiences and present a viable—not monstrous—social self to themselves and others.

This topical book engages with a wide range of issues related to social work practice with people who have sexually offended. It addresses the emotional impacts of ‘facing the sex offender’, the importance of values and ethics in practice, and reviews popular and academic understandings of sex offenders and sex crimes. Its accessible style and use of practice based learning exercises will help readers to reflect on theory, practice and developing emotional resilience.

Based on key research into assessment, treatment and recidivism, this book offers practical guidance on improving intervention techniques with sex offenders. The contributors explore the monitoring and surveillance strategies and cognitive-behavioural techniques currently used both in prison and in the community, and give clear directions for future practice. Providing a detailed overview of the typologies and characteristics of offenders, they suggest strategies for managing different kinds of offender, including children and young people who are sexually aggressive. The Sex Offenders Act and the Crime and Disorder Act emphasise the need for effective community management of the predatory paedophile. Reviewing the recent growth in multi-agency approaches to this challenge, the book discusses how police, prisons and social work departments can share information and collaborate effectively, and will be essential reading for probation officers, prison staff, social workers and anyone involved in the assessment and management of sex offenders.

How to Work with Sex Offenders is the first complete manual available on the subject for professionals who deal with this population. This user-friendly, comprehensive resource presents new data that will give you techniques for effectively interviewing sex offenders and outlines innovative treatment options in an understandable way, but that is just part of what makes this book unique. How to Work with Sex Offenders walks you through the criminal justice, human services, and mental health systems as applied to sex offenders from start to finish—you'll learn what happens to the offender from the point when he/she is apprehended, through prosecution, adjudication, and treatment. To view an excerpt online, find the book in our QuickSearch catalog at www.HaworthPress.com.

Working with Sex Offenders is a unique book which brings together leading practitioners in the field to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date distillation of relevant guidance to assist anyone who works with sex offenders. The authors examine topics including assessment, treatment, supervision and safeguarding. Skills and strategies for successful engagement with offenders are a key focus of the book, as well as improving understanding of underpinning factors associated with offending and desistance. This volume, which is derived from well-received presentations hosted by the UK’s National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) over a number of years, also offers a detailed examination of individual, organisational and societal roles in relation to identifying and preventing sexual abuse in our communities. Using case examples throughout, Working with Sex Offenders will be essential reading for all professionals involved in the management and treatment of sex offenders.