Il diniego nel recidivismo sessuale. Una revisione critica della letteratura

Sex offending especially greatly disturbs Western society. The condemnation of it amplifies when denial is the offender’s response. The assumption tested in Courts and in literature is that denial exacerbates the risk of recidivism, and its eradication would help responsibility acceptance. The paper assumes that (a) denial is not directly associated with sexual recidivism; (b) denial plays a significant role as a marker of treatment. This critical review of the literature shows that denial is not per se a criminogenic need, and its impact with recidivism is dubious, at best irrelevant. Interventions designed to evaluate rather than eliminate denial could be more effective because they can provide knowledge about the offenders’ responsivity needs, about when and how they are more likely to justify their behavior to avoid responsibility, and show when offenders are ready to face their sexual deviance or when their denial is instead grounded in their innocence.