Cognitive distortions as social practices: an examination of cognitive distortions in sex offender treatment from a discursive psychology perspective

Abstract

This article presents a critique of the concept of cognitive distortion as it has been developed within the domain of sex-offender treatment programme theory and practice. Drawing upon a discursive psychology perspective, it is argued that cognitive distortions should not be considered as mental entities but as social practices. This argument is illustrated by closely examining how offenders’ accounts of their offences during sex offender treatment sessions were organized. Recordings and transcriptions of treatment group sessions were analysed for the occurrence of regular patterns of talk and interaction. This analysis focused on how minimization was achieved through well documented rhetorical and conversational devices (conversational repair, narrative contrast devices). An orientation to cognitive distortions as a resource was also illustrated through examining its use by group members to admonish a focus offender and through a narrative reflexivity device. These findings suggest that the notion of cognitive distortion and its role in treatment settings should be reconsidered. Furthermore, it is suggested that a discursive psychology perspective can also make a highly relevant contribution to the evaluation of treatment group processes and that further research is needed in order to examine in detail the way that treatment groups are socially organized.

Keywords:

• sex offender treatment
• cognitive distortions
• discursive psychology
• conversation analysis
• evaluation

Acknowledgements

This article arose from an invited paper presented at the ‘Sex offenders: New perspectives, new approaches’ Conference held at the School of Psychology, University of Leicester, UK on 15 December 2006. I would like to thank the organizers for the opportunity to present this paper and to develop the ideas there for the current article. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the CARP research group at the University of Plymouth who have helped me understand this data through our regular data session meetings. Finally, I would like to thank Rebecca Knight who has helped with some of the transcription used here.

Notes

1. This data was collected in 1995/6 under a treatment programme syllabus which has since been revised. It could be argued that the findings reported here are of limited value given the revisions to the syllabus. However, I would argue that this analysis identifies well established social practices available to all competent members of society and which are likely to occur under any regime where offenders are asked to account for their past actions.

2. All extracts have a code which indicates their source in the original corpus. All names and locations in the extracts have been changed from the original.

3. ‘A record’ is an UK English term for a long-playing vinyl audio disc.