Perpetrator work
Perpetrator work is psychosocial work with violent and potentially violent people in the sense of changing behavior - for the prevention and protection of potential crime victims . It is usually carried out by specially trained psychotherapists , psychiatrists , psychologists , life counselors and social workers - often in a coercive context, i.e. H. due to a court order for therapy, either on the loose or in a detention center or psychiatric ward. One of the well-known researchers in the field is Rudolf Egg from the "KrimZ" Wiesbaden.
Strictly speaking, perpetrator work is not psychotherapy, but psychoeducation . Because it has a clear external mandate, i.e. to reduce the patient's or client's potential for violence and to prevent relapse. Due to the threat of punishment or a possible release from prison or detention , the clients are often not open to the therapist, from whom they expect a positive opinion . Even experienced forensic experts can hardly make a realistic assessment of the risk of relapse .
Offenders and potential offenders rarely come into therapy voluntarily. The main reasons for this are a lack of insight on the one hand, and the threat of punishment for violence and sexual violence on the other. sometimes bad experiences on the first attempt to open up. Indeed, many therapists in the field have both little experience and little understanding of this group. A developed model of perpetrator work (counseling and psychotherapy / behavioral therapy ) is being implemented in the Stuttgart probation service. Violence counseling is an approach to working with perpetrators on a voluntary basis and is offered and carried out by trained violence counselors. The approach of violence counseling based on the Hamburg model (GHM) is also prominent within the subject. Offenders who want to end their violent behavior can get to know other, new options for action with support and significantly improve their quality of life and that of their partners.
New prevention approaches, some of which are controversial in the self-help area - such as the project “ Don't become a perpetrator ” at the Institute for Sexology and Sexual Medicine at the Berlin Charité - try to reach men who are pedophile before the crime and to provide therapeutic support.