What do we do with sex offenders

1
What do we do with sex offenders?

• In this session we will consider
• Who are they?
• How many are there?
• What do we do with them?

2
Who are they?

• Stereotype of dirty old man is not true
• Adolescents are responsible for about 1/3 of
  offences and juveniles about 1/5 (Rutter et al
  98)
• Do the abused become the abusers?

3
How many are there?

• Not sure as many are not reported
• In 1997 33,200 recorded sexual offences
• Has been a rise of 3 each year since 87, except
  for rape which has 10
• In 1997 6,400 found guilty or cautioned for
  sexual offences

4
What do we do with them?

• According to Crow (2001) this depends on why we
  think they offend
• Due to personality disorders
• Evil
• Extension of power and control
• Media would have us believe the second

5
What do we do with them..

• Crow (2001) is a recognition that more than just
  punishment is needed
• West (96) divides treatment into 3 types
• Suppression of male libido
• Correction of inappropriate sexual arousal
• Cognitive-behavioural programmes

6
Prison Service

• Use of custody rose between 1992-7
• Average length of sentence also increased
• Usually segregated for own safety
• Prior to 91 treatment was ad hoc
• June 1991 Government announced a strategy for
  dealing with sex offenders

7
Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP)

• Aims to get offenders to accept responsibility,
  develop motivation and increase empathy
• Challenge denial
• Recognise patterns of distorted thinking
• Understand impact on victims

8
SOTP

• Approximately 200 hours of structured treatment
  in 20 blocks
• Blocks 1-4 establish group rapport
• Block 5 offenders recall accounts of their
  offences
• Blocks 6-9 develop victim empathy
• Blocks 10-20 directed towards relapse prevention

9
Evaluation of the SOTP

• Beech et al (98) found
• Increase in level of admittance of sexual
  offending behaviour
• Offending attitudes reduced and more awareness of
  impact on victims
• 67 of the sample evaluated were judged to have
  shown a treatment effect
• Longer term treatment programmes produced better
  results

10
General problems with assessing effectiveness of
treatment

• Traditional short follow up times of limited
  value
• Treatment programmes depend on motivation and
  therefore will attract those who want to do
  something about their offending
• Effects of treatment may vary for different types
  of offenders

11
Sex Offender Register

• Sex Offenders Act 1997
• Length of registration
• Minimum 5 years for those cautioned or convicted
  and given non custodial sentence
• 7 years for those sentenced to 6 months or less
• 10 years for those sentenced to 6 30 months
• Indefinite for those sentenced to over 30 months

12
Through the Gate Initiative Thames Valley
project

• Assessed upon release by a Psychologist
• Effectiveness of prison treatment
• Responsibility and insight for offending
• Use of psychometrics
• Decision made regarding level of treatment
  required

13
Relapse prevention programme

• New Life block ie positive and avoids use of
  jargon
• Offenders are asked to talk about
• 5 current issues
• 5 key things they have learned in treatment
• Describe offence (thoughts, feelings, behaviour)

14
Relapse prevention

• Keep diaries
• Set goals
• Support network
• Coping with negative thoughts
• Footsteps towards and away from offending
• Seemingly irrelevant decisions revisited
• Completion of new life plan

15
Circle of Support

• Started in 2002
• Volunteers recruited from local community to
  befriend high risk sex offenders
• Start before release and continue in the
  community
• Emotional loneliness can undo all good work from
  treatment programmes

16
Partners project

• To educate them about the nature consequences
  of sexual abuse
• Can be voluntary or sometimes mandated by social
  services
• Have found difficult with the female partners
• Resistant
• Stay in denial

17
Monsters and Beasts?

• This stereotype of the sex offender, fuelled by
  the media is not helpful
• December 2001 Lord Woolf suggested locking up
  paedophiles before they had committed any crime
• moral panic should not allow us to lose sight
  of justice