A sample of 543 male inmates undergoing sex offender treatment completed the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). As predicted, the PICTS General Criminal Thinking (GCT), Proactive (P), and Reactive (R) scores correlated with sexual risk as measured by the total score on the Static-99. However, only the GCT and P scores correlated with sentence length, and none of the PICTS scores successfully discriminated between a current offense of child molestation and a current offense of adult rape/sexual assault. A confirmatory factor analysis verified previous factor analyses of the PICTS conducted on nonsex offenders whereby the PICTS thinking style scales displayed significantly better fit with a two-factor (proactive, reactive) than with a one-factor (general criminal thinking) model. These results lend preliminary support to the notion that criminal thinking in general and proactive/instrumental criminal thinking in particular have something to offer sex offender assessment.

Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is touted as the predominant approach in sex offender-specific group treatment, a review of the field shows that the "behavioral" part of CBT has become minimal in relation to that which is cognitive. The authors show how a revitalized "behavioral sensibility" may help to enhance group treatment by focusing greater attention on directly observable behaviors. This clinical practice article presents an array of behaviorally-oriented techniques for conducting groups, beginning with the establishment of an operant group environment that supports behavior change; expanding empirical awareness of events occurring in group; streamlining interventions with non-verbal signals; targeted reinforcement of social interaction and bonding; and more. The article also describes several behavioral techniques designed specifically for sex offender-specific groups, which can enhance self-disclosure, social awareness, self-esteem, empathy, and management of deviant thoughts.

This review compiles 48 empirical studies and 55 clinical/practice articles specific to group therapy with sex offenders. Historically, group therapy has always been the predominant modality in sex offender-specific treatment. In the first decades of the field, treatment applied a psychoanalytic methodology that, although not empirically supported, fully appreciated the primary therapeutic importance of the group modality. Conversely, since the early 1980s, treatment has applied a cognitive behavioral method, but the field has largely neglected the therapeutic value of interpersonal group dynamics. The past decade has seen a growing re-appreciation of general therapeutic processes and more holistic approaches in sex offender treatment, and there is an emerging body of empirical research which, although often indirectly concerned with group, has yielded three definitive conclusions. First, the therapeutic qualities of the group therapist-specifically warmth, empathy, encouragement, and guidance-can strongly affect outcomes. Second, the quality of group cohesion can profoundly affect the effectiveness of treatment. Third, confrontational approaches in group therapy are ineffective, if not counter-therapeutic, and overwhelmingly rated as not helpful by sex offenders themselves. Additional conclusions are less strongly supported, but include compelling evidence that sex offenders generally prefer group therapy over individual therapy, that group therapy appears equally effective to individual therapy, and that mixing or separating groups by offense type is not important to therapeutic climate. Other group techniques and approaches specific to sexual abuse treatment are also summarized.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) was capable of predicting recidivism in 322 male sex offenders released from prison-based sex offender programs in a Midwestern state. The Static-99R and PICTS General Criminal Thinking (GCT), Reactive (R), and Entitlement (En) scores all correlated significantly with general recidivism, the Static-99R correlated significantly with violent recidivism, and the Static-99R score and PICTS GCT, Proactive (P), and En scores correlated significantly with failure to register as a sex offender (FTR) recidivism. Area under the curve effect size estimates varied from small to large, and Cox regression analyses revealed that the PICTS En score achieved incremental validity relative to the Static-99R in predicting general recidivism and the PICTS GCT, P, and En scores achieved incremental validity relative to the Static-99R in predicting FTR recidivism. It is speculated that the PICTS in general and the En scale in particular may have utility in risk management and treatment planning for sex offenders by virtue of their focus on antisocial thinking.

A review of surveys and available information relating to sex offender civil commitment programs reveals important information about the characteristics of those programs and the demographics of those persons detained or civilly committed within. Although most of these programs provide a number of clinical services that are consistent with recommended standards, whether or not other aspects of these treatment programs meet accepted standards has not been widely researched, and standards of treatment for several components of sex offender civil commitment treatment are yet to be elucidated and established by professionals in this field.