Sexual Offending

Sexual Offending presents the latest theory and research relating to the social cognition, emotion, and motivational goals of individuals who have committed sexual offences.

• Explores how individuals who have committed sexual offences perceive the world and themselves, and how understanding this can inform their rehabilitation
• Provides a broad-based view of cognition, and explores the complex relationship between cognition, emotion and associated constructs such as motivational goals
• Integrates recent work on female sexual offenders alongside the literature on their male counterparts, providing researchers and practitioners with a single resource
• A valuable handbook for researchers, practitioners and students concerned with understanding and rehabilitating individuals who have committed sexual offences

Notes on Editors ix

Notes on Contributors xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

1 Emotion, Cognition and Motivation: An Enactive Perspective 1
Tony Ward

2 The Role of Cognition, Emotion and Motivational Goals in Sexual Offending: Multi]Factor Models 17
Ross M. Bartels

3 Cognitive Explanations of Sexual Offending 35
Caoilte Ó Ciardha

4 Bridging the Cognitive–Emotion Divide: Empathy and Sexual Offending 53
Sarah J. Brown

5 Emotions and Sexual Offending 71
Nicholas Blagden, Rebecca Lievesley and Jayson Ware

6 Motivators, Self]Regulation and Sexual Offending 89
Jill D. Stinson

7 Cognition, Emotion and Motivation: Treatment for Individuals who have Sexually Offended 109
Geris A. Serran

8 Cognition, Emotion and Motivation: Future Directions in Sexual Offending 127
Theresa A. Gannon and Tony Ward

Index 147

Theresa A. Gannon is Professor of Forensic Psychology and Director of the Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP) at the University of Kent, UK. Dr. Gannon also works as a Practitioner Consultant Forensic Psychologist specializing in sexual offending and fire-setting for the Forensic and Specialist Service Line, Kent and Medway Partnership Trust. She has published more than 100 book chapters, articles, books, and other scholarly works related to male- and female-perpetrated sexual offending.

How do individuals who have committed sexual offences see the world and themselves, and how can understanding this inform their rehabilitation? Cognition, emotion and motivation are interdependent components underlying the ways in which we all think and behave, and much effort has been spent investigating them in the hope of understanding antisocial behaviour. The findings have been promising, but as yet they have not been synthesized into a single, definitive resource. Integrating the latest theory, research, and practice, Sexual Offending focuses exclusively on the cognition, emotion, and motivation of individuals who have engaged in incidents of sexual offending. Chapters begin with a topic definition and theoretical overview, followed by an outline of relevant research and a discussion of the implications for improving evidence-based practice.