Applying the Good Lives Model to the Case Management of Sexual Offenders
A Practical Guide for Probation Officers, Parole Officers, and Case Workers
by Mayumi Purvis, Ph.D., Tony Ward, Ph.D., and Simone Shaw

This guide, written specifically for case managers, provides a strengths-based approach to managing and rehabilitating individuals who have committed sexual offenses. Instead of other case management approaches that focus primarily on risk reduction, this approach employs the good lives model, which focuses on helping individuals achieve their goals in prosocial ways. The guide outlines a set of practical tools that case managers can use to assess clients' current functioning, identify their goals and strengths, and develop comprehensive plans to support their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. By shifting the focus to clients' positive aspirations and future potential, rather than just their past offenses, the GLM aims to empower them to reduce recidivism and become contributing members of society.

Case managers face unique challenges everywhere in their work, from resource limitations, time and cost constraints, and large caseloads. These challenges increase when managers work with individuals who sexually abuse. Research has shown that this population is extremely heterogeneous in terms of their characteristics, backgrounds, and the motivations behind their offending behaviors. As a result, there is no "typical" offender profile, and this makes it difficult to apply the same therapeutic approach to all cases. As the author of this guide points out, an “attitude that all sexual offenders are the same and can therefore be treated or managed in the same way, is a fallacy.” A flexible, individualized approach is needed for each case.

The authors of this guide propose that treatment for individuals who commit sexual offenses should not focus solely on risk reduction. It is equally important to address the client’s personal goals and explore how these goals can be satisfied in pro-social ways in the future. What’s more, treatment methods that focus exclusively on risk reduction fail to engage clients in the rehabilitation process.  The authors provide a detailed explanation of the Good Lives Model (GLM), which focuses clients not only on taking responsibility for their actions but also on identifying the factors that will help them build a life free of offending. Additionally, encourages clients to find ways to positively contribute to their communities.

What Does the Good Lives Model Offer Case Managers?

This guide provides an in-depth explanation of the GLM and how the approach was implemented at the Sex Offender Program in Victoria, Australia. The GLM is a strengths-based model that:

• focuses on helping offenders achieve primary human goods in pro-social ways rather than just avoiding risk.
• gives case management a more positive, constructive focus.
• provides tools to create individualized and engaging case management.
• employs positive, future-oriented language.
• incorporates a framework for integrating risk-need-responsivity (RNR) principles within the broader, more constructive GLM rehabilitative approach.
• aligns well with desistance theory.

“…intervention should be seen as an activity that adds to an individual’s repertoire of personal functioning, rather than an activity that simply removes a problem or is devoted to managing problems, as if a lifetime of restricting one’s activity is the only way to avoid offending”

Tools To Be Used in Day-to-Day Work

The GLM is more than a philosophy concerning the goals of treatment. Based on their efforts to integrate the model into their sex offender program, the authors developed and refined a set of tools that case managers can utilize to assess and monitor their work with these clients. These tools, available in this guide, include:

• GLM Current Life Analysis: This tool helps analyze the client's current lifestyle and functioning in relation to the 11 primary human goods of the GLM.
• Primary Human Goods Acquisition Analysis: This analysis examines how the client is currently attempting to secure each of the primary human goods, identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
• Good Lives Plan: This involves developing a comprehensive plan with the client to help them achieve their goals and secure primary human goods in prosocial ways.
• Approach Goals Framework – This framework involves reframing avoidance-based goals into positive approach goals aligned with primary human goods.
• Strengths and Resources Assessment – This form aids clients in identifying their internal strengths and external resources and supports that can facilitate their rehabilitation.
• Obstacles Analysis – This tool helps clients examine internal and external obstacles that could prevent them from achieving goals and primary human goods in prosocial ways.

These tools allow case managers to work with individuals who have been convicted of sex offenses in a more holistic and future-directed way.  As the authors say:

“We suggest that it is only through a holistic assessment of offenders that we can properly understand them. In order to meaningfully intervene and help individuals develop new skills, opportunities, interests, and investments that encourage a commitment to pro-social living, a comprehensive, holistic analysis of their personal characteristics, priorities, and lives is required."

A Must Have Guide

The goal of the GLM is to empower clients to reduce their risk of recidivism and work towards lives of positive contribution to their communities. By focusing on their strengths and future goals rather than solely their past offenses, this model aims to foster rehabilitation and reintegration.

The tools presented in this guide help professionals support people who have sexually offended in developing prosocial skills, building healthy relationships, and pursuing educational, vocational, and community engagement opportunities. With the right guidance and support, clients are capable of leading fulfilling lives and making amends through prosocial actions.

We believe you will find these strengths-based, rehabilitation-focused strategies invaluable in your work to help offenders redirect their lives in a positive direction and become contributing members of society.

Earn CE Credits with GIFR! https://www.gifrinc.com/course/applying-the-good-lives-model-to-the-case-management-of-sexual-offenders/

Supplemental forms for use with clients are available as a free PDF download to those who purchase the book.