“While This Does Not in Any Way Excuse My Conduct . . . ”

Abstract

This article explores the role of neutralizations in desistance from sexual offending. The project involved interviews with 15 men convicted of a sexual offence against a child and living in the community for between 1 and 15 years following a period of incarceration. The majority had undertaken sex offender treatment and highlighted its utility. Participants less than 9 years post-release tended to neutralize their offending via the technique of “denial of responsibility,” while those 9 years plus post-release displayed less evidence of neutralizations. Treatment programmes may exclude those with high levels of denial and minimization, which I argue to be misguided and potentially dangerous. Findings indicate that neutralizations assist desistance from sexual offending by allowing for the negotiation of stigma and rejection of the “sex offender” label, thus providing for the development of a non-offending, prosocial identity.