Jayson Ware — Raising the bar

“But I Didn’t Do It”: It Is Possible to Rehabilitate Those Who Deny

We often hear about it in the media. A man convicted of sexual crimes maintains his innocence even after a lengthy prison sentence. He has received next to no rehabilitation because he will not accept responsibility. Does his denial mean that he will reoffend? Why would he continue to deny even if this means spending more time in prison? What can we do with these individuals? In this talk, Dr Ware will explain what is known about these individuals, the reasons why they deny, whether denying responsibility leads to more offending, and what can be done about these individuals. Dr Ware will discuss how it is possible to engage these individuals in rehabilitation they say they do not need, for a problem they say they do not have, to prevent another offense that they say they did not commit in the first place.

Bio

Dr Jayson Ware is currently a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar in Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law at UC. He has researched, and worked with, sex and violent offenders for the past twenty years and has authored over 40 journal articles or book chapters relating to offender rehabilitation. He continues to train and supervise professionals who work with offenders. From 2010 until 2022 he was a senior executive leading a large workforce of staff who provided services and rehabilitative programs to offenders within Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia. Then, he saw the light and returned home.