Treatment for Sex Offenders: Does it Reduce Recidivism?.
Does treatment reduce recidivism in sex offenders? Does the type of treatment, i.e. traditional therapy versus sex offender therapy, impact recidivism and how do they differ? Treatments such as, non-behavioral psychotherapy, pharmacological or surgical, and behavioral or cognitive-behavioral have been widely used by therapists to treat sex offenders. A common perception is that most sex offenders do not respond positively to these treatments. Conversely, until recently, studies have shown that treatment given to sex offenders immediately after incarceration can cause a reduction in recidivism. Further, "the treatment of sex offenders involves approaches that are fundamentally different from techniques used in traditional psychotherapy. These differences relate to the special needs of sex offenders that may directly contradict the needs of other clients.""(U.S Dept. of Justice, 1993).
In R. Karl Hanson's, Predicting Relapse: A Meta-Analysis of Sexual Offenders Recidivism Studies, 61 follow-up studies identified the factors strongly relating to recidivism in sex offenders. (Hanson, 1998) On average, the sexual offense recidivism was low. The offenders who did not get treatment or failed to complete treatment were at higher risk of re-offending. Also, there were subgroups of offenders who were also at high risk of re-offending. These groups were best predicted by their sexual deviancy. Another study by R. Hanson comes from a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of treatment for sex offenders published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment (Vol. 14, No. 2) in 2002(APA.org. 2003). In this analysis, there was a relatively significant difference in offenders being treated compared to those who were not treated.
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What Are the Types of Treatments?.
Treatment programs fall generally into three categories: non-behavioral psychotherapy, behavioral or cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological or surgical (Rice & Harris, 1997).