Therapeutic alliance and its setting with those who have sexually offended and implications for community maintenance programs

Abstract Developing an understanding of how people who have been to prison maintain changes they may have made in a custodial program, successfully (re)integrate upon release to the community and ultimately, desist, is imperative if we want to prevent their return to prison. Reentry and reintegration processes are fraught with challenges for parolees and community support to assist with this process is important. Community maintenance programs are programs that are in theory designed to aid those who have been released from prison to successfully reintegrate, by providing ongoing specialized and professional support in the community. Factors relevant to successful reintegration for those who have offended included a variety of factors beyond program content, which includes therapist characteristics, client’s perceptions of their therapists and the therapeutic alliance. This paper examines the therapeutic relationship and proposes that the setting within which a therapeutic relationship takes place needs to be considered as a fourth factor to Bordin’s model of therapeutic alliance, which seems particularly relevant to the forensic context. There will be a specific focus on the impact of correctional organizations on therapeutic programs and staff. Implications for practice and future research are also considered.