Individuals’ experiences of sexual offending therapy in a forensic psychiatric setting

ABSTRACT

There is a paucity of research exploring individuals’ experiences of sexual offending therapy, particularly in forensic psychiatric settings. This study qualitatively explored the perspectives of six male medium-secure patients regarding the treatment programme they completed to address their sexual offending behaviour. Thematic analysis of interviews generated two themes: the experience of transition through the programme and the experience of engagement. The importance of gaining service-user feedback and the implications for programme design and delivery are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Sex offender treatment
• forensic mental health
• qualitative
• treatment engagement
• treatment design
• experiences of treatment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.