The Clarification Process for Sexual Offenders
Original authors: Steven E. Mussack, Ph.D. and Alison Stickrod, M.S., NBCC 

Clarification of sexually abusive and sexually inappropriate behaviors a sexual offender has displayed is an important component of any therapeutic intervention program.

Definition:

The clarification process is an aid in the offender's gaining full understanding of his abusive behaviors, sexual and non-sexual, which have resulted in harm to others and self.  It involves clarification to himself/herself, to his/her sexual abuse victim(s) and to others he/she has victimized in non-sexual; ways.  It is an effort to help the offender comprehend the impact of these harmful behaviors and to accept full responsibility for them.  It is also an aid in his/her identifying behaviors and thinking which are healthy and appropriate which will also serve to meet his needs for a sense of personal power, control, closeness and affection in a non-abusive fashion.

Clarification is not a one time, static event which has a clear end point.  It is a dynamic process which is continually reviewed and made more specific throughout therapy.

Goals of the Clarification Process:

Effective and useful clarification does have specific goals which are important as measures of the offender's progress in therapy.  These goals include the offender's need to:

1. Understand the exact nature, in clear and specific terms, of behaviors which were abusive to others

2. Understand the cognitive and behavioral and affective events which were involved in and lead to sexual abuse occurring

3. Understand the emotional, physical and psychological effects the sexual abuse had on the victim, the offender and other affected individuals

4. Understand the personal emotional and psychological goals the offender was attempting to attain through the sexually abusive behaviors

5. Identify appropriate, non-abusive behaviors, thoughts and feelings which recognize and can serve to meet the appropriate personal needs of the offender without bringing harm to others or self

6. Take full responsibility for the harm caused to others and self by the offender's actions

7. Provide aid to the abuse victim in his or her efforts to overcome the trauma the offender is responsible for

8. Begin a process of making amends with the victim of sexual abuse

9. Openly declare to self and others the exact details of the offender's sexually deviant thinking and actions as an effort to seek aid in establishing self control

10. Experience personal vulnerability as a source of strength rather than an event to be defended against or feared

11. Learn to both accept and provide confrontation in an assertive, caring manner rather than view it as an event which is either an expression of power and an effort to control others or an experience of victimization

12. Learn that progress and success is a process of repeated effort and refinement

13. Learn that frustration can be a source of healthy, productive energy rather than something to be avoided or to become angry about

14. Create, through the offender's own efforts, a concrete measure of growth and progress in therapy

The Steps of Clarification

Clarification is frequently accomplished through requiring the offender to write a series of letters, each generally taking several drafts to complete.  The letters are read to the therapist and, preferably, a group of other offenders for critical review.  Whenever possible, each completed letter is then followed by direct, personal clarification to those who have been harmed by his/her inappropriate and hurtful behaviors.  There are three steps involved:

1. Clarification to self

2. Clarification to his/her victim

3. Clarification to others who also have been harmed

Step 1: Clarification to Self

The process begins by having the offender clarify his sexually abusive thoughts and behaviors to himself.  This initial letter includes:

1. Explicit details of deviant sexual behaviors and thinking, including fantasy and masturbatory behaviors as well as specific times and places

2. An exacting description of events occurring prior to, during and after an assault, including the offender's affective states, manipulations, trickery, bribes, threats, coercion, aggression and employment of weapons

3. Extensive efforts to identify the emotional and psychological experience of the assault from the victim's perspective

4. Identification of short and long term effects on the victim including possible effects on interpersonal relationships, views of sexuality, value system, loss of trust, environmental fears, negative impacts on education or work performance

5. Statements concerning why the victim was targeted by the offender the victim as well as other affected individuals

6. Acknowledgement of full responsibility for all impacts of the abusive behaviors on self and others

7. A description of the impact that discovery or disclosure has had on the offender including the impact of therapeutic intervention

8. Current feelings toward the victim including any continuing fantasies, either sexual or vengeful in nature

9. Current feelings toward family, authorities and self

10. Identification of wrongfulness and hurtfulness of behaviors

11. Identification of appropriate alternative behaviors both in the past abusive situations and potentially abusive situations

12. A clear and appropriate expression of regret for hurtful behaviors

13. An expression of willingness to make himself/herself available to the victim in any manner which will aid the victim in resolving the trauma experienced

14. A commitment to appropriate change

Each letter is reviewed and feedback given to aid the offender in gaining increased clarity.  The offender is prompted to examine each detail of his/her assaults.  He/she must identify his/her manipulations, coerciveness, accept full responsibility for his/her assaults and abuses of power.  All enticement, responsibility and blame for the sexually abusive situation, as well as events which have occurred as a result of the sexual abuse, is accepted as belonging solely to the offender.  A complete replay of his/her internal dialogue creates a picture of his/her rationalizations and selfishness.  A clear picture of any substance abuse is obtained.  He/she must clearly recognize the hurtfulness and wrongfulness of his/her offensive behaviors.  He/she must also recognize he/she is capable of healthy change and identify behaviors he/she could have, can and will exhibit which will meet his/her needs for a sense of personal power, control, affection and closeness to others without interfering with the needs and rights of others.

Initially the offender is encouraged to write the letter exactly as he views the situation.  This provides information to the therapist about the offender's current state.  The offender is then asked to identify any thinking errors and remove them from the letter as well as make any changes he/she thinks are appropriate.  Minimizing such as "I only touched her vagina" or "I might have done that" or "I don't know" or "I can't remember" among others are also frequent.

Initial drafts of such letters invariably include some attempt at self victimization and sympathy seeking.  While some form of apology is important to the victim, the apology must be carefully reviewed.  It must clearly be an expression of concern for the welfare of the victim rather than an attempt by the offender to manipulate the victim to forgive him/her to relieve his/her guilt or shameful feelings.

After the initial draft and changes any attempts to employ Thinking Errors (cognitive distortions) are confronted.  Anything less than full acceptance of responsibility is defined as a continuation of the abusive cycle.  Any minimizing discrepancies in the offender's versions of his/her assaults versus those of his/her victim's are pinpointed and confronted.  Acknowledgement of abuses of family, friends, teachers, employers, and others are an important part of the Self Clarification Process.

Offenders frequently attempt to defend themselves by focusing on the behaviors of others.  It is important to validate the offenders observations, when they are accurate and confront this as an effort to redefine the focus of clarification.  Self clarification provides an opportunity for the therapist to begin to help the offender understand that he/she will achieve a lasting sense of personal power and control in his/her life by focusing his/her energy on changing his own inappropriate thinking and behavior rather than on changing behavior of others.

Confrontations are clear, firm, and supportive in nature.  Efforts are made to continuously provide validation for the offender throughout the clarification process, as well as to clarify to him the personal value and purpose for the confrontation.  Hurtful behaviors are clearly defined as wrong with no room for negotiation.  He/she is held accountable for his/her actions by the therapists and treatment group.  He/she is encouraged to develop the self respect to hold himself/herself accountable rather than depending on others to do this for him/her.

During the clarification process the offender invariably attempts to employ behaviors which have been successful in the past to rationalize the sexually abusive behaviors or ward off his/her own negative feelings.  These efforts provide much information about his/her behavior cycles.  As the powerful impact of his/her abuses becomes clear the offender begins to experience the pain, helplessness, and hopelessness with an intensity he/she has often been able to avoid in the past.  Offenders will often become confused and fearful at these times.  It is important to provide acceptance and support for these feelings while also utilizing them as an opportunity to aid the offender in recognizing the impact his/her behaviors has had on others.  This situation, when is arises, is often the first time the betrayal and devastation he/she has perpetrated on another human being becomes real to him/her.  He/she begins to have some recognition for how dangerous his/her behaviors are and can now begin to accept help and support to change them.

The letter is rewritten many times as events are clarified through therapy.  As therapy continues the offender begins to further clarify thoughts and behaviors which are early warning signs of old abusive patterns.  He/she then outlines and practices specific alternative behaviors which can "short circuit" his abusive behavior patterns.  The offender's letter to himself/herself will never be complete until therapy is complete.

Work on the offender's clarification letter to his/her victim begins after he/she has made significant progress in the elimination of distortions, blaming, vagueness and minimizing in his/her letter to himself/herself and honest empathetic statements concerning the victim can be made.  Letters to victim's should be written even if there will be no opportunity to forward them.  The letter can provide something from which both the victim and the offender can regain clarity about himself/herself in future times of personal difficulty or confusion.

Step 2: Clarification to the Victim

It is important when having the offender write a clarification letter to his/her victim for the offender's therapist to attempt to gain information about the current needs of the victim.  Many of the graphic details which have been included in the offenders letter to himself/herself may be experienced as another abuse by some victims.  The letter is meant to focus on the victim's needs and the offender's abuses of those needs.

In contacts with victims treatment groups we have been informed that younger victims, less than 13, do not want explicit details of the sexual abuses included in the letters.  Older teens and adults more often find specific details helpful when combined with clear statements of wrongfulness concerning those behaviors.

Teenage victims and younger victims have informed us that the answers to the following questions are important to them:

1. Why did you do it?

2. Why did you pick me?

3. Do you think it was my fault?

4. Have you abused anyone else?

5. Are you mad at me?

6. Are you mad at me for telling?

7. Is treatment helping?

8. How is it helping?

9. Will you do it again?

10. Are you sorry?

11. How did you think I would feel?

12. How do you think I feel now?

Answers to these questions along with clarification of the areas listed earlier are important to include in a letter of clarification to a victim.

Personal Clarification to the Victim:

All letters are critiqued by the therapist and the therapy group and rewritten until all group members and therapists agree it can be forwarded.  The victim's therapist should be included in the review process whenever available.

Whenever possible, personal clarification between the offender and the victim should be arranged.  The setting should be one in which the victim will be comfortable.  A support person should attend the clarification process with the victim and the offender's therapist should also be present, if this is acceptable to the victim, as a safeguard and support to the offender.  The victim should be allowed to arrive first and should not be expected to wait in the same location as the offender prior to the clarification meeting.  The victim should have time to meet the offender's therapist, be encouraged to arrange physical setting in any manner that feels comfortable and supportive, and be allowed to decide both who will attend and where they will be seated.  The victim should be told that the purpose for the session is to be helpful to him/her and that the offender is coming to clarify his full responsibility for his sexually abusive behaviors and will be willing to answer any questions.

Frequently, a clarification session will be the first time the victim and offender have met since the sexual abuse was disclosed.  The therapist must be prepared to end the session if it becomes overly distressing.  Clarification may need to occur over a number of sessions.  The therapists must also decide whether to provide the victim with a copy of the clarification letter prior to the session or have the offender offer the letter at the end of the session.  Frequently the victim finds it helpful to have reviewed the letter with his/her therapist prior to the meeting but this is not always the case.

The offender should be informed of these arrangements at some time before the clarification meeting and given the opportunity to explore any questions or concerns.  The offender's role in the clarification session is to verbally describe all the issues concerning the impact of his/her behavior on the victim.  Reading a letter in such a situation distances him/her from the impact of this event and is often experienced as insincere by the victim.  He/she will need to be available to answer any question the victim may have and may need some help prior to clarification in thinking through responses to possible questions.  During the clarification the offender too will be anxious.  Support from his/her therapist, without rescue or interference, is important at this time.  Follow-up individual sessions soon after clarification are important in the offender's ability to gain as much as possible from the personal clarification process.

The writing of a clarification letter and personal clarification are a learning process for the offender.  They incorporate his insights and learning from readings, group and individual therapies.  They provide a vehicle to redefine his/her role within himself/herself and within the context of those around him/her.

The clarification letter is a difficult task for the offender.  It often takes several weeks and ten or more drafts before the letter is acceptable to all those critiquing it.  It is a frustrating process which frequently yields anger and defensiveness from the writer.  We have found many problems can be avoided by asking the writer to discuss which parts of the letter he/she is not satisfied with and having him solicit recommendations.

Step 3: Clarification to Others

Clarification to non-sexually abused siblings and parents is also viewed as an important process in the development of caring, supportive home environments.  Frequently the offender has lied to, manipulated, and abused these individuals in a non-sexual  manner for as long or longer than the length of his/her sexually abusive behaviors.

The offender's relationship to others is often based on achieving his/her own self satisfaction rather than on mutual support and sharing.  In letters to others the offender must clearly state:

1. What he/she has done to them which is abusive

2. His/her sexually abusive behavior toward his victim

3. He/she must accept full responsibility for behaviors which have been abusive

4. He/she must clarify how he/she can be a part of establishing a healthy, caring relationship with them and make a clear commitment to do so

The clarification to non-sexually abused victims should follow the same procedure as with sexually abused victims

It is clear that many sexual offenders come from abusive homes.  In such situations is is important to aid the offender in not taking responsibility for other's abusive behaviors while still accepting full responsibility for his own.  Such an experience can serve to empower the offender within the family context through his acknowledgement that he has choices even in difficult situations which do not have to violate the rights of others regardless of how they behave

Such a mature, assertive and responsible position on the part of the offender has been found to often serve to influence other family members to reexamine and alter their own hurtful behaviors.