The relationship between self-esteem and deviant sexual arousal in nonfamilial child molesters.

The study worked with adult men who had molested children outside their family. All were in court-ordered treatment.

Before and after a therapy program, staff measured two things: how the men felt about themselves and their sexual arousal to deviant pictures. No control group was used.

After treatment, self-esteem scores went up. The bigger the self-esteem gain, the less arousal the men showed to child images.

The link was strong even though the program never asked the men to talk about their fantasies.

Wetherington (1979) used satiation therapy: men masturbated for an hour while saying deviant fantasies out loud. That direct method also cut arousal, but it targeted fantasies head-on. The 1997 paper shows a softer road—boost self-esteem and arousal drops anyway.

Webb et al. (1999) proved male arousal can be conditioned up or down with short delays. Their lab work backs the idea that arousal is changeable, giving room for self-esteem work to do its job.

Scott et al. (2009) found self-esteem stayed flat after correctional classes for youth. That looks like a clash, but their program was short, classroom-based, and aimed at ADHD traits, not sexual issues. The 1997 program was longer, therapy-based, and focused on sex offenders—so both can be true.

You can add brief self-esteem builders—strength lists, praise for small gains, goal reviews—into existing sex-offense protocols. These low-cost moments may chip away at deviant arousal without forcing clients to describe forbidden fantasies. Track both self-esteem and arousal to see if the link holds for your caseload.