Sexually Harmful Behavior and Good Lives Model | Report

Running head: SEXUALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AND GOOD LIVES MODEL
SEXUALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AND GOOD LIVES MODEL
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1SEXUALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AND GOOD LIVES MODEL
According to the statistics offered by Ons.gov.uk (2020), in the year 2016 there were
more than 106,098 sexual offenders within the nation of UK and the number of cases registered
under sexual assault was the highest in 2016 since the year 1995. Lussier and Beauregard (2018)
are of the viewpoint that the sexual offenders are often being seen as perverts and thereby had to
face a substantial amount of discrimination, stigmatization and other kinds of societal evils. The
resultant effect of this is that these individuals have being punished by the law enforcement
authorities without taking into account the psychological factors or the other factors which
propelled these them to indulge in the sexually offending behavior (Lussier & Mathesius, 2018).
More importantly, recent researches have clearly indicated that in the context of the majority of
the sexual offenders, the root causes of the sexually offending behavior displayed by them are
their psychology, their upbringing, the present condition of their life, the extent to which their
basic psychological needs have been fulfilled and others (Grady, Levenson & Bolder, 2017).
However, the authorities rather than focusing on punishing the sexual offenders should look to
modify the behavior of these individuals through the usage of appropriate measures like
counseling, group therapy and others (DeLisi, 2016). In this relation, the Good Lives Model is an
important one for correcting the errant behavior of the sexual offenders since this model manages
risks by acknowledging the individual goals, needs, aspirations and working for the achievement
of the same in a positive and safe environment. The purpose of this essay is to undertake an
analysis of the condition of John and also recommend the manner in which his risk of re-
offending can be reduced through the usage of Good Lives Model and psychological theories.
Grady, Yoder and Brown (2018) are of the viewpoint that the different actions which are
being undertaken by the individuals are the resultant effect of the cognitive development, moral
development, mental growth and others of the concerned individual. Adding to this, Szumski et

2SEXUALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AND GOOD LIVES MODEL
al. (2018) have noted that these aspects are substantially dependent on the kind of upbringing
that the concerned individual had received, the environment which the individual faced while
growing up, the present environment in which the concerned individual resides, the extent to
which their basic psychosocial needs had been fulfilled and others. In this relation, it needs to be
said that these are some of the most basic factors which substantially determine the quality of life
which is being led by an individual and also their behavior as well. The different psychological
theories like Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral
development and others take into account these factors for offering an insight into the actions or
for that matter the behavior displayed by the individuals (Reid & Piquero, 2016). As discussed
by Harper and Harris (2017), an important assumption made by Piaget's theory of cognitive
development can be attributed to the fact that he considered the cognitive development of the
children to be inextricably linked to the physical environment in which they were brought up and
also on the aspect of their biological maturation as well. More importantly, he also suggested that
it is the interaction of the children with the external environment which facilitated their cognitive
development and in turn shaped their understanding of the things around them. Furthermore, on
the basis of his own observations, he came up with four stages of intelligence development
within the human beings, namely, sensorimotor (birth to 2 years), preoperational (2 years to 7
years), concrete operational (7 years to 11 years) and formal operational (11 years and up)
(Najdowski, Cleary & Stevenson, 2016).
An analysis of the condition of John or for that matter the behavior displayed by him
through the usage of this particular psychological theory is likely to yield insightful information.
For instance, the case study clearly reveals the fact that John in the early part of his childhood
lived in a dysfunctional and disruptive family wherein his father frequently used force to

3SEXUALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AND GOOD LIVES MODEL
discipline his children including John. More importantly, John’s mother commits suicide and
after this he and his brothers are being sent into foster care however after a few months he is
separated with his brothers. Moreover, he also displays trouble mingling with the other children
at school and is also bullied by them. Furthermore, after the completion of his studies he decides
to live with his father however fails to get the required emotional support from his father. In the
light of these aspects, it can be said that the external environment in which John had been
brought up was not at all a congenial one and this in turn adversely affected the cognition of John
while getting reflected in the behavior displayed by him. In addition to these, the foster parents
of John had described him as angry and aggressive and they have also highlighted the fact that he
had himself blamed for the death of his mother. Thus, it can be said that the ineffective
environment in which John was brought up while adversely affecting the fulfillment of his basic
psychosocial needs had also created the mindset in him wherein anger as well as sexually
offending behavior is a way of attaining emotional release or catharsis for John.
Honeycutt and Rickard (2019) are of the viewpoint that Lawrence Kohlberg's “stages of
moral development” is an important psychological theory of development which helps in
explaining the behavior displayed by the individuals. Adding to this, Morais et al. (2018) have
noted that this particular development theory builds on the work of Piaget and thereby suggests
that the individuals are being able to attain or acquire morality by passing through three stages or
levels, namely, preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. In the preconventional
stage, the actions undertaken by the individuals are results or punishment oriented and also
undertaken from the perspective of their own self-interest (Sitney & Kaufman, 2020). On the
other hand, in the conventional stage, the actions which are being undertaken by the individuals
are as per interpersonal accord and conformity and also in compliance with the authority while