The Good Lives Model and the Rehabilitation of Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offending

Abstract

The last few decades have seen significant advances in the methods of treatment for sexual offending and the theories which underpin this field. One of these developments is the Good Lives Model (GLM), which was designed to complement existing rehabilitation framework, the Risk-Reed-Responsivity Model (RNR; (Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J., The psychology of criminal conduct. LexisNexis, New Providence, NJ, 2010; Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A., The psychology of criminal conduct. Routledge, New York, NY, 2017)). The GLM is a strength-based rehabilitation framework which thus far has demonstrated popularity with practitioners and rehabilitation participants and has shown preliminary success in treatment programs and case formulations. These findings are encouraging, as they suggest that the GLM may increase motivation to change and guide individualized treatment. The aim of this chapter is to collate the evidence and highlight the ways in which a GLM approach complements existing risk focussed rehabilitation, in order to provide researchers and practitioners with rationale and recommendations for implementing and researching GLM-consistent interventions. We will discuss the GLM, its core assumptions and implications, the empirical evidence supporting its use, and its relationship to practice and the RNR Model. We will conclude by highlighting areas for future development which will provide, in our opinion, a promising way forward for the treatment of individuals who have committed sexual offenses.