Sex Offender Treatment and Recidivism

"Sexual assault is a multi-factored behavioral phenomenon that has been identified as a leading social and criminal justice problem" (drc.state.oh.us) Sexual assault has affected the lives of millions of people and is a serious criminal justice and a social problem. According to a study from the department of justice surveying trends of sex crimes between 1983 and 1995, persons age 12 or older reported experiencing an estimated 260,300 attempted or completed rapes and nearly 95,000 threatened or completed sexual assaults other than rape in 1995 (usdoj). In 2004, there were 209,880 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults (rain.org).

According to the 1997 Sex Offense and Offenders Study from the Department of Justice and 1999 National Crime Victimization Study (as cited on www.rainn.org), the following statistics illustrate the problems present for society in regard to sex crimes. Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted; One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, and 10% of sexual assault victims are men; In 2003-2004, there were an average annual 204,370 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. Furthermore, seven percent of girls in grades five through eight and twelve percent of girls in grades nine through twelve and said they had been sexually abused according to the 1998 Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls. Clearly this presents a serious problem for society. The issue is how to deal with the problems presented by these statistics.

Presently there are two primary approaches employed for prevention of sexual abuse: the criminalistic view and the treatment view (Lahey 2001). The goal of the criminalistic approach is to prevent crime through punishment and isolation of offenders; the treatment approach emphasizes rehabilitation and attempts to decrease offenses by treating the offender and correcting psychological issues that may be causes for behavior (Lahey 2001). For the purposes of this study, focus will rest on the treatment view and the validity of treatment programs. Treatment programs are divided into three primary categories: Community-based programs, institutional programs, and group therapy programs (Lahey 2001).

Community-based programs

Community-based programs are not as common in the United States as in other countries, and as such most of the writing on the subject is from Europe and Canada. According to the Correctional Service of Canada, community-based programs provide treatment that reduces unnecessary

and expensive incarceration for certain types of offenders That might include such offenders as incest perpetrators who are assessed as low risk to re-offend and offenders who have received relatively short sentences and might not be granted early release because treatment could not be offered before their parole eligibility dates (www.csc-scc.gc.ca 2004).

It is further argued that establishing programs in locations close to communities where the offenders originate will allow for treatment with family support and, where appropriate, can even include family members in the therapeutic process.

Also, it is suggested that treating offenders in the community allows the offender better access to extended community resources like vocational counseling, substance abuse treatment-resources that address other contributing factors to the offending behavior (www.csc-scc.gc.ca 2004).

Institutional Programs

In institutional programs information regarding the risk to re-offend and treatment needs is collected and documented at intake into the prison system, and follows each sex offender through the institution and on through parole planning and release. An inmate

is classified as a sex offender if he or she is either currently committed for a sex offense or has a prior felony sex offense conviction in the past 15 years (drc.state.oh.us ). Institutional programs generally include two phases: the assessment process which includes the following components: risk assessment, psychological testing, file and collateral information review, and a clinical interview; and psycho-educational Programming. The basic purpose of psycho-educational programming is to assist the offenders in correcting certain deficits or maladaptive behaviors. This may involve non- threatening presentations and discussion in a classroom setting in an attempt to develop, in the offender, an understanding of the wrongfulness of sexual assault, to increase an understanding of victim awareness, develop knowledge of destructive

behavior cycles, and produce an understanding of how systems of denial work (drc.state.oh.us ).

Group therapy Programs

These programs attempt to change the offender's attitude and behavior with group therapy. The central goals of such programs are to help the offender overcome denial and accept personal responsibility, gain insight and develop improved self-control, cultivate healthier attitudes about sex, people, and relationships, develop victim empathy, and develop a sound relapse prevention plan (psy.fsu.edu ).

Present Study

There have been several studies of sex offender treatment programs and their effect on recidivism. The problem in these studies has been that only reported acts of recidivism are easily studied. Take for example the Community-based sex offender program evaluation project from the Minnesota Department of Corrections (MDOC). This study took a sample including all adult offenders sentenced to probation in Minnesota in 1987, 1989, or 1992 for a felony sex offense for whom data were available. Researchers reviewed the probation files of these 1,407 sex offenders and collected data on more than 2,500 items of information per offender. Further information came from the agencies that provided sex offender treatment for these offenders, and re-offense data was collected from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) databases (Minnesota Department of Corrections [MDOC] 1999).

In the Minnesota study, like most, the primary sources for determining the level of recidivism are records of apprehension; this does not account for the dark figure of crime-or the unreported instances. The proposed study will focus on both the crime statistics and the psychological impact of the treatment on the offender i.e. do these programs cause sufficient change in the individual.
Methods

Participants:
Participants in the Present study will consist of two purposively selected samples of 100 18-45 year old male convicted sex offenders residing in a moderately sized Midwest city. Care will be taken to ensure that subjects in one group are comparable to subjects in the other in terms of length of treatment/incarceration, racial makeup, and severity of offences.

Measures

Criminal Recidivism:
Case.net is an online database that grants access to the Missouri State Courts Automated Case Management System. From here researchers are able to inquire on case records including docket entries, parties, judgments, and charges in public court.

State Sex Offender Registry The state Highway Patrol maintains an online registry of sex offenders The information on the web site refers only to persons who have been convicted of, found guilty of or plead guilty to committing or attempting to commit sexual offenses and may not reflect the entire criminal history of a particular individual (www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov, 2006).

Deviant Mentality:

The Abel Assessment for sexual interest™ (AASI; Abel, 1995) developed by G. Abel, M.D, is a comprehensive evaluation and treatment tool that provides baseline data, treatment planning guidance, and evaluation of progress throughout the treatment process. Offenders being evaluated look at 160 slides of boys and girls, men and women and, after they have gotten familiar with them, they rate them on a seven point scale on a computer, the ratings being how disgusted or aroused the individuals were by what they looked at. In addition to viewing the slides, the offender also completes a lengthy questionnaire, which asks him about his interest in a variety of sexually deviant behaviors, all of this information is then sent to Dr. Abel's clinic and the results are faxed back. (http://www.abelscreen.com, 2006).
Wilson Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire

The Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ; Wilson, 1978) is a survey developed to assess the quantity of sexual desires, preferences, and sexual activities of participants in clinical research settings. The WSFQ utilizes a 40-item self-report questionnaire that assesses 4 types of sexual fantasies: Exploratory, Intimate, Impersonal, and Sadomasochistic (http://echo.forensicpanel.com.)

Procedures

The present study will consist of study in two major areas: Preventive criminal justice, and psychological rehabilitation. That is to say that both the criminalistic and treatment approaches will be studied, compared, and contrasted. Two samples of 100 offenders will be purposively selected to represent the population of violent sex offenders residing in a moderately sized city. Sample A. will consist of males aged 18 to 45 paroled from a state prison who have not been enrolled in a private treatment program. Sample B. will be constructed of males between 18 and 45 who have completed a sex offender treatment program. Both groups will be studied for one-year post treatment/incarceration. Casenet court records will be monitored for any new charges, and the Sex offender registry will serve to document any additional relevant convictions or guilty pleas. In addition, subjects will take the AASI and the WSFQ at the beginning of the study and again one year later to determine whether there are significant effects psychologically as a result of treatment, and whether or not behavioral changes will hold up over time.

References:

Abel Screening, Inc.

http://www.abelscreen.com

Correctional Service of Canada

Sexual Offender Programs

http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/prgrm/correctional/sexoff_e.shtml

The Department of Psychology at FloridaStateUniversity

Group Therapy

http://www.psy.fsu.edu/community/dozier/therapy.html

Lahey Benjamin B.

Psychology: An Introduction

McGraw-Hill Companies 8th edition (February 2003)