Customer Reviews

How to Work With Sex Offenders: A Handbook for Criminal Justice, Human Service, and Mental Health Professionals (Haworth Marriage and the Family)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're a bureaucrat working with sex offenders this book will appeal to you. It gives a broad overview of the legal and clinical issues with lots of lists and bullet points. If you're more interested in the inter-personal dynamics of working with sex offenders or understanding what really motivates and drives them in their specific behaviors, then this book is not for you.

I found the book curiously lacking and somewhat out of date, even though it was published in 2001. For example, there is no mention of online activities, like pornography and chat rooms, and how those are fueling the addictive cycles of the users and perhaps contributing to other behaviors that more directly affect people in physical ways. Indeed, there is only one small section at the end of the book on the subject of sex addiction. What about the victimizing of children in online porn? What about the use of chat rooms to lure adolescent girls and boys into face to face meetings? What about the increasing use of hidden digital cameras for voyeuristic activities? These, and others, are the new frontier in offending, so to speak.

The author is in private practice but his previous years as a probation officer illuminate his approach to the subject. Although he includes a six page section on women offenders, Flora's view of sex offenders is definitely a male view, and he seems to view them overwhelmingly as heterosexual males abusing women and children. Exhibitionists and voyeurs seem to be males, for example.

I found the author's omission of a discussion of cultural background and racial propensities in offending notable, especially given his Hispanic surname. Also, missing was any significant mention of sexual orientation issues.

Overall, I found this book disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic, so I'll give it a somewhat neutral three stars rating.

great for those in the mental health field, law enforcement and psychology fields.......a must for all parents but i also found the material outdated since the book was written in 2001

Flora utilizes his many years of expertise while drawing from the scholars in the field to compile an excellent resource on how to work with sex offenders. This book is a must for all professionals and students in the field of mental health.

This book is extremely comprehensive and well-written. It covers the broad range of topics related to the field of Sexual Offenders and does so in an informative,clear and user-friendly manner. The book is very practical in orientation and will be invaluable to practitioners struggling to keep abreast of developments in this field. This book also provides an excellent review of the research literature which should prove invaluable to academics, researchers and students interested in this area. Rudy Flora has put together a well-organized volume,which covers the field very comprehensively. This will undoubtedly be considered a definitive handbook in working with Sexual Offenders. As a practicing clinical psychologist, I would recommend it without reservation.

Being associated with the realm of the mental health field, I have been further enlightened on the treatment of sex offenders through the proficiency of the author of this book. It is an advantageous textbook on its subject and should be considered a significant preparation for every novice of this field. Its reading should also be considered an additional compensation to the accomplished practitioner.