The narrative challenge to cognitive behavioral treatment of sexual offenders

Imprisoned sexual offenders undergoing treatment are expected to deduce and follow a treatment schema constructed on the foundations of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). A key element of their treatment program is the presentation of a core narrative, their autobiography, to treatment staff and peers. Examining this form of prison-based treatment through the lens of narrative theory, I argue that the autobiographies and other stories that are developed and performed as part of this treatment process are largely the product of the imposition of this treatment schema in combination with dynamic group processes. Ironically, the treatment schema and the prevailing dynamics work to subvert the fundamental forensic goal of having inmates disclose aspects of their lives and crimes as an essential stepping stone toward rehabilitation. The narratives that emerge, both in detail and in meaning, cannot be seen as simply reflections of any single individual's life but, instead, as composites built on, and reflective of, cultural processes somewhat unique to the forensic context. Narrative, a fundamental mode of thinking and communication, necessarily challenges the directed nature of autobiographical presentation derived from CBT. In such circumstances, the effectiveness of CBT for sexual offenders is questionable.