The Impact of Interpersonal Style and Interpersonal Complementarity on the Therapeutic Alliance Between Therapists and Offenders in Sex Offender Treatment

Abstract

Therapist and treatment process variables affect the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation programs. This study examined the influence of therapists' and offenders' interpersonal styles (IPSs) and interpersonal complementarity on therapeutic alliance (TA). Seventy-five sex offenders and their therapists evaluated each other's IPSs and the TA after 3 weeks of treatment. Offenders evaluated the TA more positively than therapists. Regarding the impact of IPS, therapist affiliation was positively correlated and therapist control was negatively correlated with offenders' ratings of the TA; in other words, offenders evaluated the TA more strongly when therapists were perceived as affiliative, and weaker when therapists were viewed as controlling. Offender affiliation was positively correlated with therapists' ratings of TA; in other words, therapists evaluated the TA more strongly when offenders were viewed as more affiliative; perceptions of offender control were unrelated to offenders' ratings of TA. Complementarity in IPS between offenders and therapists did not affect TA.

The Impact of Interpersonal Style on Ruptures and Repairs in the Therapeutic Alliance Between Offenders and Therapists in Sex Offender Treatment

“…This was consistent with findings from a concurrent study by Watson, Daffern, and Thomas (2015), which found that IMI Dominance did not affect the quality of the therapeutic alliance in a sexual offender sample. This is inconsistent with suggestions that clients with a dominant IPS have difficulty establishing a positive therapeutic alliance (Edens, 2009;Holdsworth et al, 2014).…”

The Virtuous Circle: A Grounded Theory Exploration of the Good Lives Model

“…Therapists’ ability to reflect on relationship patterns developed in childhood that are potentially being played out in therapy may be useful for offenders to identify dysfunctional patterns. However, offender characteristics may interplay with this process, with high levels of hostility in offenders associated with a reduced ability to engage and connect with therapists (Watson, Daffern, & Thomas, 2017).…”

The impact of pre-treatment responsivity and treatment participation on violent recidivism in a violent offender sample

“…personality, cognitive abilities, and motivation). The little research that exists on responsivity has mostly focused on the programme or process factors that enhance treatment outcomes (Marshall, Marshall, & Burton, 2013), such as the use of social learning principles, the importance of therapeutic alliance (Kozar & Day, 2012;Watson, Daffern, & Thomas, 2015), and effective strategies for programme delivery (Marshall & Marshall, 2012). Limited research has focused on whether, and how individual offender characteristics influence the effectiveness of violence intervention programmes (Scott & King, 2007).…”