Therapists’ perceptions of the therapeutic alliance in “Mandatory” therapy with sex offenders

Dowling, Jannine and Hodge, Suzanne Margaret and Withers, Paul Stanley (2018) Therapists’ perceptions of the therapeutic alliance in “Mandatory” therapy with sex offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 24 (3). pp. 326-342. ISSN 1355-2600

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Abstract

Research suggests that the therapeutic alliance (TA) plays an important part in successful therapy. The pantheoretical concept of the alliance (Bordin, 1979) assumes a client seeks to make a change and joins the therapist in a willing journey. However, treatment with sex offenders can entail various levels of coercion. Little is known about the process of the TA in therapy with sex offenders whose therapy could be seen as coerced or mandated. Thus, the aim of this research was to explore therapists’ perceptions of the TA with sex offenders whose therapy could be seen as “mandated” because it was part of their plan for release/rehabilitation. Eleven therapists were interviewed about their experiences and a qualitative thematic analysis elicited five themes: dynamics of forced work, explicit terms of working, persuasive encouragement to engage, connecting with the human element and preservation and protection. Implications for practice are discussed alongside recommendations for future research.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Sexual Aggression
Additional Information:
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sexual Aggression on 25/10/2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13552600.2018.1535139
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200
Subjects:
?? therapeutic allianceexperiencequalitativesex offender treatmentcoercionpsychology(all)health professions(all)behavioral neurosciencecontributions to practice ??
ID Code:
128588
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
25 Oct 2018 14:25
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
17 Dec 2023 01:41