A Brief History of Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Approaches to Sexual Offenders: Part 1. Early Developments

This is the first of two papers which briefly outline the development of behavioral and cognitive behavioral treatment of sexual offenders from the mid-1800s to 1969. We first consider the historic role of Sigmund Freud and note that a broad scientific interest in deviant sexual behavior was well established by 1900. In the early to mid-20th century, two psychologies were prominent in the development of behavioral approaches, those of John B. Watson and Alfred Kinsey. Behavior therapy for a variety of problems emerged in the 1950s and soon found application to deviant sexuality. The development of penile plethysmography helped to focus interest on deviant sexual preference and behavior. While nonbehavioral approaches to sexual offenders paralleled these developments, a combination of behavioral and cognitive behavioral treatments began to emerge in the late 1960s which ultimately developed into the approaches more commonly seen today.