The Research Behind Our Treatment Resources
Our clinical workbooks are grounded in decades of peer-reviewed research across three complementary, empirically supported frameworks for treating adults with sexual behavior offenses.
Effective treatment of adults with sexual behavior offenses requires approaches supported by rigorous research. The Sustaining Change Treatment Workbook, Sustaining Change Therapist Manual, and Living Well: Practical Skills for Healthy Decisions & Relationships draw on three well-established frameworks: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model, and the Good Lives Model (GLM).
Below, we summarize the research base underlying each framework. All statistics and findings are drawn from published peer-reviewed meta-analyses and systematic reviews.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
The gold standard in sexual offense treatment
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the mainstream treatment approach for adults who have committed sexual offenses. CBT-based programs target the distorted cognitions, attitudes, and behavioral patterns associated with offending, helping individuals develop healthier thinking and self-regulation skills. Multiple meta-analyses spanning decades have consistently demonstrated that CBT-based treatment is associated with meaningful reductions in sexual recidivism.
An earlier meta-analysis by Losel and Schmucker (2005) combined 69 studies involving over 22,000 individuals and found a significant positive effect of CBT-based treatment on both sexual and general recidivism, spanning institutional and community settings across multiple countries.
Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Model
Matching treatment intensity and targets to the individual
The RNR model, first formalized by Andrews, Bonta, and Hoge in 1990, is among the most influential frameworks in offender rehabilitation worldwide. It guides clinical decision-making through three core principles:
An updated meta-analysis by Holper, Mokros, and Habermeyer (2024) with 37 samples and over 30,000 individuals confirmed a significant mean treatment effect (OR = 1.54), reinforcing that higher-risk individuals show the greatest treatment gains consistent with the risk principle.
Good Lives Model (GLM)
Strengths-based rehabilitation alongside risk management
The Good Lives Model, developed by Tony Ward and colleagues, is a strengths-based complement to risk-focused approaches. The GLM proposes that individuals who have committed sexual offenses, like all people, seek to attain important life goals ("primary human goods") such as relationships, agency, inner peace, and community connection. Offending occurs when individuals pursue these goods through harmful means. Treatment under the GLM is framed as a positive, approach-oriented activity to help clients build fulfilling lives while managing risk.
Willis, Ward, and Levenson (2014) found across multiple North American treatment programs that the GLM may enhance the efficacy of programs already adhering to RNR principles. Willis and Grace (2008) found that individuals who recidivated were less likely to have reintegration plans with prosocial pathways to primary goods, supporting the GLM's premise that healthy means to achieve life goals are protective against recidivism.
A growing body of research supports the GLM's assumptions, and an increasing number of rehabilitation programs internationally have adopted it as a guiding framework. The GLM complements the RNR model: where RNR specifies what to target and how intensively, the GLM provides a motivational framework for why change matters to each individual.
Why an Integrated Approach Matters
No single model in isolation is sufficient to guide comprehensive treatment. The RNR model provides the empirical architecture for matching treatment to risk and targeting criminogenic needs. CBT provides the evidence-based methods. The Good Lives Model provides the motivational and humanistic framework that engages clients in meaningful change.
As Yates, Kingston, and Ward (2009) articulated, integrating these models allows clinicians to assist clients in managing risk while building personally meaningful lives. This dual emphasis on risk reduction and life enhancement reflects the current best-practice consensus in the field.
Our workbooks, Sustaining Change and Living Well, are designed around this integrated framework, translating decades of rigorous research into practical resources for licensed mental health professionals in specialized treatment settings.
Selected References
- Andrews, D. A., Bonta, J., & Hoge, R. D. (1990). Classification for effective rehabilitation: Rediscovering psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 17(1), 19-52.
- Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2007). Risk-Need-Responsivity Model for Offender Assessment and Rehabilitation. Public Safety Canada.
- Gannon, T. A., King, T., Miles, H., Lockerbie, L., & Willis, G. M. (2011). Good Lives sexual offender treatment for mentally disordered offenders. British Journal of Forensic Practice, 13(3), 153-168.
- Gannon, T. A., Olver, M. E., Mallion, J. S., & James, M. (2019). Does specialized psychological treatment for offending reduce recidivism? Clinical Psychology Review, 73, 101752.
- Hanson, R. K., & Bussiere, M. T. (1998). Predicting relapse: A meta-analysis of sexual offender recidivism studies. J. of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(2), 348-362.
- Hanson, R. K., Bourgon, G., Helmus, L., & Hodgson, S. (2009). The principles of effective correctional treatment also apply to sexual offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(9), 865-891.
- Holper, L., Mokros, A., & Habermeyer, E. (2024). Moderators of sexual recidivism as indicator of treatment effectiveness: An updated meta-analysis. Sexual Abuse, 36(3), 255-291.
- Losel, F., & Schmucker, M. (2005). The effectiveness of treatment for sexual offenders: A comprehensive meta-analysis. J. of Experimental Criminology, 1, 117-146.
- Schmucker, M., & Losel, F. (2015). The effects of sexual offender treatment on recidivism: An international meta-analysis. J. of Experimental Criminology, 11(4), 597-630.
- Schmucker, M., & Losel, F. (2017). Sexual offender treatment for reducing recidivism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 13, 1-75.
- Ward, T., & Stewart, C. A. (2003). The treatment of sex offenders: Risk management and good lives. Professional Psychology, 34(4), 353-360.
- Willis, G. M., & Grace, R. C. (2008). The quality of community reintegration planning for child molesters. Sexual Abuse, 20(2), 218-240.
- Willis, G. M., Ward, T., & Levenson, J. S. (2014). The Good Lives Model (GLM): An evaluation of GLM operationalization in North American treatment programs. Sexual Abuse, 26(1), 58-81.
- Yates, P. M., Kingston, D. A., & Ward, T. (2009). The Self-Regulation Model of the Offense and Re-Offense Process. Trafford Publishing.
Explore Our Treatment Resources
Designed for licensed mental health professionals working in specialized treatment settings with adults who have committed sexual behavior offenses.
Visit Our Website →