ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, we presented empirical studies and theoretical considerations related to the validity of Pithers’s Relapse Prevention Model (RPM). One of the central issues discussed was the universality of the RPM: is the RPM the sole pathway in the offending processes of sexual aggressors? To address this issue, we briefly presented the results of studies that demonstrated that there is more than one pathway in the offending process of sexual aggressors. Ward, Louden, Hudson, and Marshall’s (1995) seminal paper entitled “A descriptive model of the offense chain for child molesters” was the starting point for a trend in research on the offending process of sexual offenders that developed initially in New Zealand and Australia, and subsequently spread to England and Canada.
