Rehabilitation Of Sex Offenders Research Articles

Legal Perspectives on the Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders: Efficacy, Ethical Considerations, and the Pursuit of Recidivism Reduction

This dissertation critically examines the efficacy of group-based therapeutic interventions for sex offenders within correctional facilities, aiming to enhance rehabilitation and reduce recidivism. Despite contemporary treatment paradigms demonstrating some effectiveness, as indicated by lower recidivism rates among treated offenders, the success of these programs is not uniform, prompting a need for reevaluation. Treatment challenges include infrastructural limitations, the need for individualized approaches due to offenders' diverse psychosocial profiles, and the complexity of achieving group cohesion. Furthermore, high dropout rates and short assessment periods undermine the establishment of evidence-based practices. The dissertation advocates for a stratified approach to therapy, recognizing individual psychological profiles and tailoring treatment accordingly. It calls for advancements in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) methodologies within Sex Offender Treatment Programs (SOTPs), considering ethical dimensions of interventions such as chemical castration, and employing Multisystemic Therapy (MST) with biometric monitoring to better assess and manage recidivism risks. This synthesis of academic literature and analysis of programmatic limitations highlights the necessity of refining sex offender rehabilitation to ensure public safety effectively.

Best practice in sexual offender rehabilitation and reintegration programs

PurposeThis paper aims to report on the results of a global search to identify the characteristics of successful sexual offender treatment programs, with a view to providing guidance for program development.Design/methodology/approachA keyword search was conducted of criminology and social science databases. Successful programs were selected on evaluations that used standard scientific designs.FindingsThis study identified 18 evaluations of 16 programs showing significant reductions in reconvictions. Most programs used cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), with both group and individual sessions; and many evidenced multisystemic therapy (MST) approaches involving families and/or local communities. CBT-based approaches were also common in the 20 unsuccessful programs identified in the study, although fewer MST-oriented features were in evidence. Noncustodial settings, and combined custodial-noncustodial settings, were also more prominent in the successful programs.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a shortage of studies focused on the specific components of successful treatment programs for sexual offenders, including for subsets of offenders, such as ethnic minority groups and women.Practical implicationsThe findings demonstrate the need for more investment in treatment programs with strict evaluation processes. New and modified programs are likely to benefit from the application of CBT, MST and a community-based reintegration component. More research is needed on effective elements of sexual offender treatment programs.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this appears to be the first study that examines features of successful sexual offender treatment programs, compared to unsuccessful programs, using a case-study approach. The findings reinforce the known value of CBT and systemic approaches as core features of programs but raise important questions about what other components are key to activating success.

About the Missouri Government Response to Incest - #Fulton State Hospital (FSH) Sexual Offender Rehabilitation & Treatment Services (SORTS) - #Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)

About the Missouri Government Response to Incest - #Fulton State Hospital (FSH) Sexual Offender Rehabilitation & Treatment Services (SORTS) - #Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Perceptions around adult and child sex offenders and their rehabilitation as a function of education in forensic psychology independent of traditionalism and perpetrator sex

Literature pertaining to individuals with sexual convictions typically reports punitive views about their crimes, sentences, and overall effectiveness of rehabilitation, with such perceptions partially driven by offence demographics such as victim age and perpetrator sex. This manuscript extends this literature through the exploration of perceiver characteristics of self-reported traditionalism and education in forensic psychology as mechanisms of perceptions and awareness. Participants (N = 101; 60% forensic psychology students; 40% general public) read online vignettes related to sexual offences (manipulating perpetrator sex and victim age), and completed measures of perceptions of sex offenders, perceived rehabilitation efficacy and traditionalism. Members of the general population (without a background of education in forensic psychology) reported harsher views towards individuals with sexual convictions and their rehabilitation, relative to students of forensic psychology, independent of their greater traditionalism. There was no main effect of or interaction with perpetrator sex. Whilst participants endorsed more negative perceptions towards sex offenders of child than adult victims, this did not extent to differences in perceptions regarding their rehabilitation. Findings reported here indicate a need for greater understanding as to the factors that might moderate perceptions towards individuals with sexual convictions and have implications for the promotion of sex offender rehabilitation programmes. Understanding the root of such public attitudes is a key step for creating and improving associated policies.

Quelle(s) forme(s) de spécialisation(s) dans la prise en charge des criminels sexuels ?

En France, depuis le milieu des annees 1990, la problematique publique de la criminalite sexuelle a occasionne la mise en œuvre de politiques penales specifiques articulant a la fois une logique proprement punitive et une logique sanitaire psychiatrique dans une finalite de prevention des risques de recidive. En ce sens des dispositifs specialises ont ete elabores a la fois du cote de la psychiatrie et du cote de l’administration penitentiaire. Ces dispositifs ont par la suite ete etendus a d’autres categories penales posant la question de la specialisation des acteurs y intervenant : de quoi sont specialistes ces professionnels ? Pour illustrer cette question nous avons mis la focale sur deux dispositifs : l’injonction de soins et les Programmes de prevention de la recidive. Il s’agit de montrer comment, dans les politiques penales, ces deux dispositifs ont ete portes par des acteurs qui se sont saisis du probleme de la criminalite sexuelle dans une logique de segmentation professionnelle. Si ces deux dispositifs ont par la suite ete chacun despecialises, sur le terrain une offre de soins s’est structuree peu a peu dans une logique de specialisation. Mais reste posee la question de la specialisation des professionnels eux-memes : ainsi au-dela des savoirs formels, se developpent des formes de competences specifiques et plus informelles. Nous avons identifie trois competences : la competence architecturale, la competence relationnelle et la competence de neutralisation. Celles-ci participent d’une evolution des pratiques des acteurs et interrogent au final les formes transversales de redefinition des professionnalites au-dela des frontieres professionnelles.

Élaboration d’une échelle des représentations sociales négatives concernant les auteurs de violences sexuelles

IntroductionThe prototype of the “recidivist pedophile-child murderer” widely portrayed in the media is that of a (moral) monster. The horror and incomprehension of acts that are considered to be immoral, abnormal, and pathological, lead to the view that sex offenders must be “crazy”, “sick” or “perverse”. Attitudes towards sex offenders are generally very negative, and most people think they should be punished severely and locked up for as long as possible, especially child molesters. Women are slightly more understanding. The professionals who work with sex offenders (criminal justice system, care-workers) tend to have more positive perceptions. The aim of this study is to develop French-language tools to assess negative attitudes towards sex offenders. A further aim is to compare the attitudes of professionals, including people working in a CRIAVS (a regional center that provides guidance to professionals working with sex offenders), with those of other people. We will factor in history of sexual abuse, personality traits and emotional distress of the respondents. MethodParticipants and procedure. The sample consisted of 405 people (mean age 25.51±9.70years, 15–70; 58% women). One-third of the respondents were care-workers, of whom 20% (n=29) worked in a CRIAVS or in a treatment center for sex offenders. They were recruited via a web-based questionnaire created using Sphinx software. MaterialThe scale of negative social representations of sex offenders comprised 27 items, mostly worded in a derogatory way (e.g. “People who engage in acts of sexual violence are really monstrous”, “… have no place in society”; “… are people just like us”; “… should above all be given treatment”; “… do things that are totally incomprehensible”; “… are obviously very violent”; “… can never stop”). This questionnaire was the subject of a pre-test study. We also translated the Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders (ATS 21) scale, which is structured around three factors (Trust, Intent and Social Distance), each with 7 items. The material also included a personality trait scale (Big Five Inventory-10 items), an emotional distress scale (General Health Questionnaire-12 items) and questions about any history of sexual abuse experienced personally or by a close friend or relation. ResultsA principal component factor analysis of responses to items of negative attitudes towards sex offenders yielded a two-factor varimax-rotated solution explaining more than 45% of total variance. The first factor, “Segregation of sex offenders”, concerned items conveying the view that sex offenders should be excluded from society, that they cannot live with other people, that they are monstrous, etc. The second factor, “Sick People”, concerned items giving the view that sex offenders needed above all to be treated, but also related to the fear they inspire, and the impulsive and serious nature of their acts. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were respectively 0.94 and 0.67 (0.93 overall). The results showed strong correlations between ATS (ATS and its 3 factors: Trust, Intent and Social Distance) and the “Segregation of sex offenders”, as well as a significant correlation between Trust (ATS) and “Sick People”. The results showed an effect of age and level of education on the social representations of sex offenders, with less favorable attitudes among the youngest and those with the lowest level of education. There were weak links with personality traits (lower scores on Conscientiousness and higher scores on Neuroticism) and with emotional distress (higher scores on Anxiety-depression). There were also differences between women and men, with women showing greater tolerance than men, although they also scored higher on the “Sick People” factor. There were differences between people living in rural areas, whose attitudes were more negative than those living in urban areas. Finally, the attitudes of care-workers, particularly those working in a CRIAVS or treating sex offenders, were less negative than those of the other participants. DiscussionThis study is the first step in the development of a scale of negative attitudes towards sex offenders (with satisfactory internal and external psychometric qualities). Results are consistent with previous data. Pejorative attitudes are an obstacle to the care and rehabilitation of sex offenders. This tool could be used by CRIAVS professionals to evaluate the attitudes of the people or professionals attending their awareness or training programs. This study extends work on the “monster” figure and the segregation of “social deviants”.

What Works in Israeli Prison-Based Sex Offender Rehabilitation Programs: Program Participants' Perspective.

This study invited 10 of the 22 sex offenders enrolled in a prison-based rehabilitation program in one of the prisons in Israel to engage in the two first of the 4-D ( Discover, Dream, Design, and Deliver) stages of the Appreciative Inquiry . Consistent with the responsivity principle, and the IA tenets, program participants were interviewed to Discover components to which they were responsive and Dream/envision additional ones that would increase engagement and progress. Content analysis of the interviews indicated that despite the initial decision to enrol based on external incentives, participants eventually engaged in group therapy and expressed the desire to understand and regulate their sexual behaviour. While the the modules of Cognitive Behabioral Group Therapy (CBT) were viewed as assets, the lack of sufficient recruitment criteria, the large therapy group size, and its open-ended structure were mentioned as impediments reaching therapeutic goals. Social workers/therapists were criticized for their request that they be informers, and for their accusative therapeutic style whenever sexual issues were broached. Recommendations derived from the offenders' narrative were to increase staff professionalism to create a therapeutic alliance that promotes trust and open communication. Criminal justice practitioners may then take up the challenge of the never-ending process of Appreciative Inquiry to Design and Deliver program components envisioned by the participants to increase participants' responsivity to the program and thus its effectiveness.

Sex Offenders in Prison: Are They Socially Isolated?

Empirical literature has revealed that social isolation can affect the rehabilitation of sex offenders after serving their sentence. This process of social isolation can already start during incarceration due to strained relationships with fellow prisoners and correctional staff. The current study examined to what extent sex offenders felt socially isolated during incarceration, using survey and registered conviction data on a large sample of male adult prisoners from the Prison Project. It was found that support from and relationships with correctional officers and fellow prisoners were perceived less positive by sex offenders than nonsex offenders. No evidence was found for higher levels of loneliness in sex offenders compared with prisoners convicted for a nonsexual offense. In sum, although the effects were small, sex offenders reported more social isolation during imprisonment compared with nonsex offenders.

Volunteering With Sex Offenders: The Attitudes of Volunteers Toward Sex Offenders, Their Treatment, and Rehabilitation

The general public has been shown to hold negative attitudes toward sexual offenders, sex offender treatment, and the rehabilitation of sexual offenders. It appears pertinent to the success of sex offender management strategies that utilise volunteers that selected volunteers do not share these attitudes. Here, volunteers for Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA), a community-based initiative supporting the reintegration of sex offenders, completed three validated psychometric measures assessing attitudes toward sex offenders in general and toward their treatment and rehabilitation. Responses were compared with a U.K. general public sample. The results showed that volunteers held more positive attitudes toward sex offenders, sex offender treatment, and sex offender rehabilitation than the U.K. general public sample. The significance of these findings is discussed alongside directions for future research.

The impact of science-based knowledge on attitudes towards sex offenders

Background. The general public often holds negative attitudes towards sex offenders, which could result in an exclusion of sex offenders from society. Since lack of social support is a known risk factor for relapse, it is highly desirable that interventions target to reduce the negativity of attitudes against sex offenders. Therefore, the current study aims at exploring the effectiveness of an intervention based on the provision of in-depth scientific knowledge on existing attitudes and degree of dehumanization towards sex offenders in undergraduates that are expected to work with sex offenders in their future careers. Methods. A non-randomized experimental study was conducted, involving an experimental group (n = 9) and a control group (n = 5). In a pre- and posttest measurement participants’ attitudes and degree of dehumanization towards sex offenders were measured. During the interval, the experimental group took a four-week course about sex offending, wherein in-depth scientific knowledge was provided, whereas the control group received no scientific information. Comparisons were made between the attitudes towards sex offenders, and between the degree of dehumanization towards sex offenders, between the pre- and post-test measurement within and between the participant groups. Results. A significant difference was found for attitudes between the pre- and post-test measurement within the experimental group. The degree of dehumanization towards sex offenders has not decreased during the intervention within both participant groups. Conclusion. This study suggests that in-depth scientific knowledge has a positive influence on attitudes towards sex offenders, but not on the degree of dehumanization in future professionals within the field of forensics and psychology. However, the study’s small sample size suggests for more extensive research on the subject. Nevertheless, the present findings provide a method for the improvement of treatment and rehabilitation of sex offenders by influencing impeding, negative attitudes.

Community support for sex offender rehabilitation in Europe

It is assumed that the public holds negative attitudes towards sex offenders, yet an increasing number of European volunteers are involved in sex offender rehabilitation programmes through Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA). Public attitudes and their correlates have been mainly studied in Anglo-Saxon countries; research in European countries other than the UK is scarce. To fill this gap, a web-based survey was held among web-panels in nine European countries ( n = 200 per country). Measures included awareness and knowledge about sex offenders, community attitudes towards sex offenders in the community (CATSO), attitudes towards the treatment of sex offenders (ATTSO), public attitudes towards sex offender rehabilitation (PATSOR), support for CoSA, and attitudes towards volunteers working with sex offenders. Results indicated that clear misperceptions were held by a minority. Attitudes tended to be negative, but not extremely, and differences between countries were significant. The amount of support for CoSA was considerable and mean attitudes towards volunteers working with sex offenders were positive. The lower educated held more negative attitudes. Since web-panels were probably not representative on key demographic markers, the results are only indicative. Professionals should especially address the lower educated, correct key misperceptions about recidivism of sex offenders, and provide information about processes of change in convicted sex offenders.

"They Treat Us Like Human Beings"--Experiencing a Therapeutic Sex Offenders Prison: Impact on Prisoners and Staff and Implications for Treatment.

Research evidence demonstrates that sex offender treatment programmes (SOTPs) can reduce the number of sex offenders who are reconvicted. However, there has been much less empirical research exploring the experiences and perspectives of the prison environment within which treatment takes place. This is important, particularly for sexual offenders, as they often face multiple stigmas in prison. This study used a mixed-methods approach to explore the experiences of prisoners and staff at a therapeutically orientated sexual offenders' prison to understand whether the prison environment was conducive to rehabilitation. The quantitative strand of the research sampled prisoners (n = 112) and staff (n = 48) from a therapeutically orientated sex offenders prison. This strand highlighted that both prisoners and staff had positive attitudes toward offenders and high beliefs that offenders could change. Importantly, the climate was rated positively and, in particular, participants had very high ratings of "experienced safety." The qualitative strand of the research consisted of semistructured interviews with prisoners (n = 15) and a range of prison staff (n = 16). The qualitative analysis revealed positive prisoner views toward staff relationships, with most participants articulating that the prison and its staff had contributed to positive change in prisoners. Crucially, the environment was perceived as safe and allowed prisoners "headspace" to work through problems and contemplate change. This research offers some support to the notion that context is important for sex offender rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation of sexual offenders: clearing the stage for neuroscience

With respect to the grave implications of sexual delinquency, much focus of research and the public is therefore on the issue of assessing the risk of recidivism among the group of sexual offenders. It is however challenging to find strategies that are most likely to achieve the goals of prevention of relapse (Levenson, 2009). Taking into account the significance to provide the community and more importantly victims of sexual offences a life without fear and to protect them from future assaults, rehabilitation systems could draw great benefit from a deeper engagement within the uprising neuroscientific dimension. The rapidly growing field of neurosciences and the technological and medical development offer new opportunities to understand the brain, and the correlation between damaged brain structures and misbehaviour of criminals. Sexual deviance and violence are increasingly being associated with anomalies in the brain structure of the offenders. A better understanding of a sexual delinquent’s brain and the rise of new different neuroscientific techniques provide new prospects for the rehabilitation of these delinquents. In light of the new insights neuroscience can provide, the question arises how neuroscience could be used for the rehabilitation of sexual offenders in order to reduce the possibility for recidivism. This paper will thus analyse the possible use of neuroscience in treatment of sexual offenders before release and reintegration to community. Therefore, the study intends to provide insight into the deficiencies of contemporary rehabilitation methods. Furthermore, it attempts to propose possible innovative approaches to safe reintegration of sexual offenders by using neuroscience and to examine in how far it would be possible with regards to ethical issues. The overall claim of the paper is that neuroscience could provide complementation to rehabilitation methods aiming at the reduction of recidivism among sexual offenders, though in limitation of the respect of certain rights of the delinquent.

Juvenile Sex Offender Rehabilitation: How The Us Approach Can Help Indonesia Satisfy Its Commitment To Restorative Justice Principles

In July 2012, Indonesia enacted landmark legislation to reform the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice Act is a break through which constituted to protect the rights of children in the juvenile justice system. This Act explicitly includes the principle of restorative justice, a principle that guarantees the government’s commitment to use rehabilitative and restorative approaches. The question that arises now is how this law can be satisfied through the implementation of the Act. Specifically, this paper will focus on how the restorative justice principle can be applied to juvenile commit sexual offense. This paper, learning from the United State’s rehabilitation system, will offer some suggestions to form the rehabilitation process for juvenile sex offenders in Indonesia, such as enhancing research about juveniles commit sexual offense; improving the law and regulation; and implementing counseling, supervised group homes, and other support mechanisms.

The Self-Regulation Model of Sexual Offending

The self-regulation model (SRM) is a nine-phase, four-pathway offense process model designed specifically for sexual offenders that is now being applied to the treatment of this group in many settings and jurisdictions. In the present prospective study, we evaluated the validity and utility of the SRM in a sample of 275 adult male sexual offenders treated within the Correctional Service of Canada. Results indicated that participation in treatment resulted in moderate to large sized improvements from pretreatment to posttreatment on a dynamic risk assessment measure and several self-reported treatment targets. These changes were, in some cases, differentially associated with self-regulation pathways, suggesting that offense pathway is a clinically relevant variable when evaluating treatment change and in conceptualizing sexual offender treatment. In terms of outcome, individuals following the approach pathways, particularly the approach-automatic pathway, demonstrated higher failure rates than individuals following avoidant pathways. However, many of these differences were less pronounced when taking risk for recidivism into account. Implications of these findings for the effective assessment and rehabilitation of sexual offenders are discussed.

Altruism, empathy, and sex offender treatment.

Treatment programs for serious offenders such as sex offenders typically include an empathy training component as part of a comprehensive intervention package. The reasons for doing so are partly based on research evidence indicating that social disconnection and relationship ruptures related to empathy failures often trigger offending, and also because it is hard for people to grasp how individuals can inflict severe harm on others without lacking empathic capacities. In this paper we examine Philip Kitcher’s concept of psychological altruism and altruism failure and consider its conceptual relationship to empathy and morality. We then apply Kitcher’s multidimensional concept of altruism to the field of sex offender rehabilitation and argue that it can provide a useful ethical resource through which to approach the various tasks of practice.

The Role of Dehumanization in Attitudes Toward the Social Exclusion and Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders

We examined the role of dehumanization in people's attitudes toward the rehabilitation of sex offenders. In Study 1, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the less they supported their rehabilitation and the longer the sentences they recommended. In Study 2, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the more likely they were to support their exclusion from society. In Study 3, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the more they supported their violent ill treatment. In Study 4, within a sample of correctional staff, good quality contact with sex offenders was related to less dehumanization and more support for rehabilitation. Mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between quality of contact and support for rehabilitation was mediated via dehumanization.

Do Low‐risk Sexual Offenders Need Treatment?

AbstractThe risk principle of offender rehabilitation states that the intensity of treatment should be proportional to the offender's risk. This article reviews the evidence base for the risk principle with sexual offenders, as well as identifying other arguments, in order to determine whether low‐risk sexual offenders need treatment, and of what type and magnitude. We conclude that low‐risk sexual offenders probably need no more than 100 hours of offence‐focused treatment given their very low reconviction rates. Low‐risk sexual offenders should be kept separate from higher‐risk offenders, and treatment should not interfere with other activities that will enable a non‐offending lifestyle.

The self-regulation model of sexual offending: Relationship to risk and need.

In the present study, we evaluated the validity and utility of the self-regulation model in a sample of 275 adult male sexual offenders treated within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). Individuals following different self-regulation pathways, as delineated in the SRM, were compared on offence characteristics, static and dynamic risk measures, and various treatment targets. Multivariate analyses revealed that, in general, offenders guided by approach-motivated goals exhibited more problematic offence characteristics as well as greater risk and treatment need than individuals guided by inhibitory goals. However, several other important distinctions were noted across offenders with different goals and strategies toward offending. These findings highlight the main importance of utilizing a comprehensive and multidimensional offence process model that emphasizes multiple routes to offending in sexual offender treatment. Implications of these findings for the effective assessment and rehabilitation of sexual offenders are discussed.

Sex fiends, perverts, and pedophiles: understanding sex crime policy in America

Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Punishment Stories 2 The Sexual Psychopath Era: 1930-1955 3 The Era of Rehabilitative Debate: 1950-1980 4 Sex Offender Rehabilitation in California and How It Worked: 1950-1980 5 Sex Offender Policy in the Containment Era: 1980-Present 6 Experts and Governance: Shifting Politics and Disappearing Strategies 7 Chilling Effects 8 National Sex Offender Punishment Trends since 1920 9 Conclusion Appendix A: Research Methodology Appendix B: Timeline: Contexts of Sex Crime Policy Notes Bibliography Index About the Author