This paper argues that the notion of harm reduction can provide a more useful framework for the management of sex offenders. In this model, any reduction in the frequency or intensity of sexual offending is construed as positive. The zero-tolerance position, implicit in the relapse prevention model, has been a conspicuous failure in areas such as drug addiction and alcoholism. One of the major limitations is the equating of relapse with treatment failure. Moreover, managing sex offenders, in the sense of striving to limit socially undesirable behaviors, is a perfectly legitimate aim within the goal of making society safer.
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