An investigation into the effectiveness of a custody-based cognitive-behavioural treatment for special needs sexual offenders

Abstract

Objectives: This paper describes the evaluation of a program that was developed in response to the need for an intervention service for this group of offenders. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant improvement in victim empathy, an improvement in attitudes and beliefs associated with offending, an improvement in intimacy deficits, and an improvement in general self-regulation. Design: The design of this study is treatment evaluation using pre- and post-treatment measures assessing different areas of dynamic risk. Method: The 18 participants in this study were all involved in a cognitive-behavioural sexual offender treatment for 12 months. The assessment battery consisted of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-R, the Criminal Sentiments Scale, the Miller Social Intimacy Scale, the Modified Abel and Becker Cognition Scale, the Victim Empathy Distortion Scale, the Questionnaire on Attitudes Associated with Sexual Offending, the Self-Control Rating Scale, and the Paulhus Deception Scales. Results: Measures of attitudes supportive of sexual assault, victim empathy, and self-control showed significant change over time and large effect sizes. The results for attitudes supportive of sexual assault and victim empathy were supported by calculating reliable change and clinical significance. No significant change was observed on measures of social intimacy, emotional loneliness, and criminal attitudes. Conclusions: It is concluded that the program is successful in reducing attitudes supportive of sexual assault and increasing victim empathy, and that some success is shown in improving self-control. The lack of significant change in social intimacy, emotional loneliness, and criminal attitudes is discussed. Future research should focus on outcome following community throughcare and the development of appropriate assessment measures for use with this population.