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The clinical literature has long illustrated the paradoxical findings that deliberate attempts to suppress particular thoughts actually increase their occurrence. These unwanted, often intrusive, thoughts that are a major feature of obsessive disorders, depression, sleep disorders, and a range of other disturbances are of particular clinical concern. The exploration of psychological factors associated with cognitive control is, then, clinically relevant. In the current article we consider the role of mental control, especially thought suppression, in explaining the occurrence of unwanted thoughts, specifically in relation to deviant sexual thoughts. Many features of sexual offending, such as the effects of stress or strong affective states on offending and the rapid escalation in severity and frequency of sexual offending, reported by both therapists and researchers, can be explained by the mental control literature. In addition, the role of suppression in therapy for sexual offenders and its implications for relapse are considered. We argue that the use of suppression techniques by therapists is not sufficient to prevent the occurrence of sexually deviant thoughts and the recurrence of sexual offenses. Therapists also must teach offenders to manage stress effectively and to develop appropriate beliefs about what is controllable. Making suppression techniques automatic and avoiding high-risk situations for offending are also important skills for the offender to learn in therapy.
The cognitive and emotional demands of modern life mean that it has become increasingly important to learn how to manage effectively our mental processes and behavior. In fact, the pursuit of happiness, knowledge, and a successful career depend to a large extent on the achievement of mental control (Wegner & Erber, 1993). Controlling one's thoughts and their expression is a vital component of everyday life. You may discuss some thoughts with your partner, but it would be unwise to discuss them with your boss; sexist thoughts about women may be shared with rugby club mates but not with work colleagues. We hesitate to share some thoughts with anyone, and we may try to banish them from our minds. Mental control has recently become the focus of a flurry of theoretical and empirical research and is moving beyond its folk psychological status (Wegner, 1994). A number of different psychological phenomena associated either directly or indirectly with mental control processes, for example,...