Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Relapse Prevention Case Study

Children who suffer from problematic sexual behavior can come from a range of backgrounds Some have experienced sexual trauma and others have not. Ages that are included are two years to seventeen years old. A child's sexual behavior can be a problem if it is out of the ordinary for his or her stage of development, interferes with normal interests and activities, involves other children in a way that is upsetting, takes advantage of children who are younger, or involves pressure or force. Behaviors that are public, disruptive and continue despite efforts to stop them, or bother or hurt other children are most likely to require professional help (Harborview, 2012).
The range of behaviors can include children who react to victimization or trauma with compulsive, self-stimulating activity; children who engage in extensive mutual sexual interaction with other children; and sexually aggressive children

However, the most predominant treatment used, CBT-RP (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- Relapse Prevention), has little evidence that it is effective treating this population (Letourneau, 2004; Letourneau & Miner, 2005). The Theory of Social Ecology emphasizes the importance of structures not only within the family, but within a larger environmental context, as well (cite). The youth’s behavior is seen as a product of the interaction and relation between both the smaller family system and the larger environmental systems (CITE). Research strongly indicates that sexually offending youths are influenced by several ecological systems, yet most current treatments focus heavily on presumed psychosocial deficits in the individual youth (Gretton, McBride, Hare, O’Shaughnessy, & Kumka, 2001). According to Hanson et al., (2002), dominant interventions (CBT-RP) typically fail to address the multiple determinants of juvenile sexual offending and could result in iatrogenic