Abstract
In Germany, access to outpatient treatment services devoted to the prevention of (further) sexual offenses against minors and child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offenses is often limited. The therapy project “Prevention of Sexual Abuse” tries to fill this gap by providing treatment to patients with a self-reported sexual interest in children and adolescents, irrespective of whether or not they are pedophilic or prosecuted by the legal justice system. Within the project, a treatment manual was developed which specifically addresses dynamic risk-factors in child sexual abusers and CSEM offenders. The treatment manual was conceived to reduce recidivism risk and to contribute to the enhancement of the patients’ personal well-being. In this paper, results of the accompanying scientific research are presented: offense-supportive attitudes (N = 23), self-reported CSEM use (N = 10), emotional distress (N = 24), and participants’ subjective risk perception of committing (further) sexual offenses (N = 25) reduced during the course of treatment. A reduction of offense-supportive attitudes was further observed from pre-intervention to 1-year follow-up (N = 8). Changes with regard to self-efficacy, quality of life, participants’ self-perceived ability to control sexual impulses toward children and adolescents permanently, and several measures assessing different kinds of sexual recidivism did not, however, reach any level of significance. During an average observation period of 2.4 years, six patients confessed to have conducted new sexual exploitation material offenses, while no further sexual abuse cases were reported (N = 19). Due to the used research design and small sample sizes, treatment effects cannot be inferred and external validity is limited. This notwithstanding, results provide first evidence for a relationship between treatment participation and self-reported recidivism and psychological well-being.
Highlights
In recent years, media attention has increasingly focused on child sexual abuse (CSA), raising the public awareness toward the need and importance of prevention programs for this specific offender group
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in our treatment program for CSAs and child sexual exploitation material offenders (CSEMOs) and a variety of psychological variables
Due to inclusion criteria imposed by the authors, the results reported in this paper cannot be generalized to all CSAs and CSEMOs in forensic psychiatry
Summary
Media attention has increasingly focused on child sexual abuse (CSA), raising the public awareness toward the need and importance of prevention programs for this specific offender group. As a consequence of the advent of new digital technologies and the growth of the Internet, possibilities to commit offenses against the sexual self-determination of minors from behind the computer screen have increased. Both the illicit distribution, acquisition, and possession of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) and online grooming and solicitation, the initiation of online contacts with children with the intention of gratifying one’s sexual desire by means of the receipt of sexually explicit images or cybersex [3] fall in that category. Research indicates that the number of internet sexual offenses has increased [4, 5], aided by a phenomenon that can be traced to the ease of accessibility at affordable costs, while feeling secure due to the anonymity of the online environment [the so-called Triple A Engine: accessibility, affordability, and anonymity [6]]
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