TRENDS IN SEXUAL OFFENDER TREATMENT

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TRENDS IN SEXUAL OFFENDER TREATMENT

• BY
• Marie Clark, M.A.

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Historical Overview

• Limited research on children and adolescent
  perpetrators
• Treatment focus was on the individual perpetrator
• Much of the treatment of children and adolescents
  was based on adult perpetrators

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Characteristics of Current Sex Offender-Specific
Treatment Methods Group treatment
(predominantly)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Psychopharmacology (use of
medications) Specialized sex offender
assessment
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Psycho-physiological assessments
Polygraph Penile
plethysmograph Abel assessment for Sexual
Interest
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Laws Impacting Juvenile Perpetrator Treatment

• Historically the inclusion of juveniles in
  treatment was voluntary
• The Family Court Systems current response
• Safe School Acts

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Motivational Interviewing

• Developed by William R. Miller, Ph.D. and
  Stephen Rollnick, Ph.D.
• Client Centered, semi-directive method
• Historically designed to work with juvenile
  substance abusers

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• Focuses on engaging intrinsic motivation
• to change behavior by developing
• discrepancy and exploring ambivalence
• within the client

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Seven Key Points

• Motivation to change is elicited from the client,
  and not imposed for without.
• It is the clients task, not the counselors', to
  articulate and resolve his or her ambivalence.
• Direct persuasion is not an effective method for
  resolving ambivalence

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4. The counseling style is generally a
quiet and eliciting one. 5. The counselor is
directive in helping the client to examine
and resolve ambivalence
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6. Readiness to change is not a client
trait, but a fluctuating product of
interpersonal interaction. 7. The therapeutic
relationship is like a partnership or
companionship than expert/recipient roles.
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The Good Lives Model

• Historical treatment of sexual offenders uses
• a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) model
• Relapse Prevention being prominent in this
  model
• The focus is on managing dynamic risk factors

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Primary Assumptions in the Good Lives ModelWard
and Gannon (2006)

• The focus on risk factors is necessary but not
  sufficient
• Treatment should incorporate both goods
  promotion (approach goals) and risk management
  (avoidance goals)

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Primary Assumptions in the Good Lives Model -
ContinuedWard and Gannon (2006)

• The Good Lives Model employs a strength-
• based approach
• It focuses on promoting human welfare and
• instilling strengths in individuals rather
  than
• emphasizing psychological deficits

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Primary Human Goods

• Life (including healthy living and functioning)
• Knowledge
• Excellence in work and play (including mastery
  experiences)
• Excellence in agency (i.e. autonomy and
  self-directedness)
• Inner peace (i.e. freedom from emotional turmoil
  and stress

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Primary Goods

• Friendship (including intimate, romantic, and
  family relationships
• Community
• Spirituality (in the broad sense of finding
  meaning and purpose to life)
• Happiness
• Creativity

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Where to go from here

• Assessment and treatment should be based on
  evidenced based research whenever possible
• The shift in treatment is from the confrontive,
  therapist directed approach to a more self
  motivated one
• More research is needed on these methods and the
  long term affects on juveniles

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Where to go from here

• Assessment and treatment should be based on
  evidenced based research whenever possible
• The shift in treatment is from the confrontive,
  therapist directed approach to a more self
  motivated one
• More research is needed on these methods and the
  long term affects on juveniles