In Their Voices: Perceptions of Individuals Who Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse About the INSIGHT Program

Literature suggests that psychological interventions for individuals who perpetrated child sexual abuse (CSA) can be improved. Qualitative approaches are particularly valuable in this context, as they provide deeper insights into individual experiences and therapeutic processes, thereby informing the refinement of such interventions. Thus, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine men convicted of CSA, who had completed a newly developed, structured, and manualized individual program based on schema therapy (i.e. the INSIGHT), delivered either in prison or in the community in Portugal. An inductive approach of thematic analysis was used to explore the men's perceptions of the treatment. We identified three themes: expectations before the beginning of the intervention, perceptions of the process of change, and views regarding the program and its impact. Overall, participants indicated that the INSIGHT Program contributed to favorable outcomes, further highlighting the relevance of targeting early maladaptive schemas to complement the intervention programs. Findings are discussed in terms of possible improvements to the program and to the psychological intervention with perpetrators of CSA in general.