AO3 Cognitive Distortions

• +Application to therapy. In cognitive behaviour therapy, offenders are helped to 'face up' to what they have done and have a less distorted view of their actions. Studies such as Harkins suggest that reduced denial and minimalisation in therapy is associated with less reoffending. This suggests that the theory of cognitive distortions has practical value.
• -Depends on the type of offence. Howitt and Sheldon found that non-contact sex offenders accessed sexual images (on the internet) used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders (physically abused children). Those who had a previous history of offending were also more likely to use distortions as a justification for their behaviour. This suggests that cognitive distortions are not used in the same way by all offenders.
• Descriptive or Explanatory

  Cognitive theories of offending are good at describing the criminal mind and cognitive concepts (e.g. minimalisation) may be useful for therapy. However, cognitive theories do not explain or help in predicting future offender behaviour - just because someone has distorted thinking doesn't mean they will offend. This suggests that the cognitive explanations are probably not explanatory because they don't predict future behaviour.