Correlates of Treatment Satisfaction among Adults Convicted of Sex Offenses

Abstract

Treatment satisfaction and post-treatment factors have not received focus in research on the efficacy of sex offender treatment. We aim to describe factors that are associated with treatment satisfaction and how having satisfaction with sex offender treatment is related to future health and protective factors. We solicited responses via an anonymous self-administered survey from 718 adults in the United States who were required to register on a sex offender registry. Being older, a person of color, and not sentenced to prison were associated with higher odds of treatment satisfaction. Those convicted of rape offenses had higher odds of treatment satisfaction than respondents with other types of sexual offenses. A significant relationship was found between treatment satisfaction and being in a committed relationship, being in good mental and physical health, and being self-employed. The results suggest that satisfaction with treatment is a good predictor of treatment benefits.

Keywords

treatment satisfaction sex offender registry treatment outcomes protective factors recidivism

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Al-Abri

Al-Balushi

(2014). Patient satisfaction survey as a tool towards quality improvement. Oman Medical Journal, 29(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2014.02

Anda

R. F.

Felitti

V. J.

Bremner

J. D.

Walker

J. D.

Whitfield

Perry

B. D.

Dube

S. R.

Giles

W. H.

(2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4

American Psychological Association (APA). (2021). APA resolution on sexual orientation change efforts. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-sexual-orientation-change-efforts.pdf

Blagden

Winder

Hames

(2016). “They treat us like human beings” Experiencing a therapeutic sex offenders prison: Impact on prisoners and staff and implications for treatment. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(4), 371–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X14553227

Burke

J. D.

Rowe

Boylan

(2014). Functional outcomes of child and adolescent oppositional defiant disorder symptoms in young adult men. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(3), 264–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12150

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2022). Disability and health data system (DHDS) data guide general health conditions. cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/dhds/data-guide/health-topics-general.html

Edlund

M. J.

Young

A. S.

Kung

F. Y.

Sherbourne

C. D.

Wells

K. B.

(2003). Does satisfaction reflect the technical quality of mental health care? Health Services Research, 38(2), 631–645. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.00137

Firth

(1993). Bias reduction of maximum likelihood estimates. Biometrika, 80(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/2336755

Fraser

M. W.

(2016). Measures of consumer satisfaction in social welfare and behavioral health: A systematic review. Research on Social Work Practice, 26(7), 762–776. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731514564990

10.

Gharabawi

G. M.

Greenspan

Rupnow

M. F.

Kosik-Gonzalez

Bossie

C. A.

Zhu

Kalali

A. H.

Awad

A. G.

(2006). Reduction in psychotic symptoms as a predictor of patient satisfaction with antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia: data from a randomized double-blind trial. BMC Psychiatry, 6, 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-6-45

11.

Goldman

M. L.

Spaeth-Rublee

Nowels

A. D.

Ramanuj

P. P.

Pincus

H. A.

(2016). Quality measures at the interface of behavioral health and primary care. Current Psychiatry Reports, 18(4), 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-016-0671-8

12.

Hanson

R. K.

Morton-Bourgon

K. E.

(2005). The characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: A meta-analysis of recidivism studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(6), 1154–1163. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.73.6.1154

13.

Hanson

R. K.

Broom

Stephenson

(2004). Evaluating community sex offender treatment programs: A 12-Year follow-up of 724 offenders. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 36(2), 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087220

14.

Hare

R. D.

(1998). Psychopaths and their nature: Implications for the mental health and criminal justice systems. In Millon

Simonsen

Birket-Smith

Davis

R.D.

(Eds.), Psychopathy: Antisocial, criminal, and violent behavior (pp. 188–212.) https://www.guilford.com/books/Psychopathy/Millon-Simonsen-Davis-Birket-Smith/9781572308640/contents

15.

Jackson

J. L.

Chamberlin

Kroenke

(2001). Predictors of patient satisfaction. Social Science & Medicine, 52(4), 609–620. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00164-7

16.

Jumper

(2021). Issues in working with transgender individuals who sexually harm. Current Psychiatry Reports, 23, 42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01251-x

17.

Kessler

R. C.

Barker

P. R.

Colpe

L. J.

Epstein

J. F.

Gfroerer

J. C.

Hiripi

Howes

M. J.

Normand

S. L.

Manderscheid

R. W.

Walters

E. E.

Zaslavsky

A. M.

(2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.60.2.184

18.

Kim

Benekos

P. J.

Merlo

A. V.

(2016). Sex offender recidivism revisited: Review of recent meta-analyses on the effects of sex offender treatment. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 17(1), 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838014566719

19.

Knight

R. A.

Guay

J. P.

(2006). Psychopathy and aggression. In Patrick

C. J.

(Ed.), Handbook of Psychopathy (pp. 512–532). New York, NY: Guilford Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-01001-026

20.

Levenson

J. S.

Grady

M. D.

Lasoski

Collins

K. T.

(2023). Learning from consumers of mandated sex-offending programs: “It’s not treatment, I wish it was”. Sexual Abuse, 36(2), 203–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632231172158

21.

Levenson

J. S.

Prescott

D. S.

D’Amora

D. A

. (2010). Sex offender treatment: Consumer satisfaction and engagement in therapy. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 54(3), 307–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X08328752

22.

Levenson

Prescott

D. S.

(2014). Déjà vu: from Furby to Långström and the evaluation of sex offender treatment effectiveness. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 20(3), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2013.867078

23.

Levenson

J. S.

Prescott

D. S.

Jumper

(2013). A consumer satisfaction survey of civilly committed sex offenders in Illinois. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(4), 474–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X12472956

24.

Linder-Pelz

Struening

E. L.

(1985). The multidimensionality of patient satisfaction with a clinic visit. Journal of Community Health, 10(1), 42–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01321358

25.

Looman

Abracen

Serin

Marquis

(2005). Psychopathy, treatment change, and recidivism in high-risk, high-need sexual offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(5), 549–568. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504271583

26.

Meyer

I.H.

Bouton

Maszak-Prato

Semple

Lave

T.R.

(2022). LGBTQ people on sex offender registries in the US. Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbtq-sex-offender-registries

27.

Nock

M. K.

Stein

M. B.

Heeringa

S. G.

Ursano

R. J.

Colpe

L. J.

Fullerton

C. S.

Hwang

Naifeh

J. A.

Sampson

N. A.

Schoenbaum

Zaslavsky

A. M.

Kessler

R. C.

, & Army STARRS Collaborators (2014). Prevalence and correlates of suicidal behavior among soldiers: results from the army study to assess risk and resilience in servicemembers (Army STARRS). JAMA Psychiatry, 71(5), 514–522. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.30

28.

Olver

M. E.

Stockdale

K. C.

Wormith

J. S.

(2011). A meta-analysis of predictors of offender treatment attrition and its relationship to recidivism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(1), 6–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022200

29.

Presson

A. P.

Zhang

Abtahi

A. M.

Kean

Hung

Tyser

A. R.

(2017). Psychometric properties of the Press Ganey® outpatient medical practice survey. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0610-3

30.

Priebe

Miglietta

(2019). Assessment and determinants of patient satisfaction with mental health care. World psychiatry: Official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 18(1), 30–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20586

31.

Schmucker

Lösel

(2015). The effects of sexual offender treatment on recidivism: An international meta-analysis of sound quality evaluations. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11(4), 597–630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-015-9241-z

32.

Seto

M.C.

Barbaree

H.E.

(1999). Psychopathy, treatment behavior, and sex offender recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(12), 1235–1248. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626099014012001

33.

StataCorp. 2021. Stata Statistical Software: Release 17. College Station, TX: StataCorp LLC.

34.

Trivedi

A. N.

Nsa

Hausmann

L. R.

Lee

J. S.

Bratzler

D. W.

Mor

M. K.

Baus

Larbi

Fine

M. J.

(2014). Quality and equity of care in U.S. hospitals. The New England Journal of Medicine, 371(24), 2298–2308. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1405003

35.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). Poverty thresholds by size of family and number of children. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html

36.

Vincent

Kahn

R. E.

Ambroziak

Smith

Jardas

(2022). Treatment satisfaction in a civil commitment facility for sexually violent persons. Sexual Abuse, 34(4), 483–504. https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632211019728

37.

de Vries Robbé

Mann

R. E.

Maruna

Thornton

. (2015). An exploration of protective factors supporting desistance from sexual offending. Sexual Abuse, 27(1), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063214547582

38.

Willis

G. M.

Levenson

J. S.

Ward

(2010). Desistance and attitudes towards sex offenders: Facilitation or hindrance? Journal of Family Violence, 25, 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-010-9314-8

39.

Willis

G. M.

Ward

Levenson

J. S.

(2014). The Good Lives Model (GLM): An evaluation of GLM operationalization in North American treatment programs. Sexual Abuse, 26(1), 58–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063213478202

40.

Woodworth

Freimuth

Hutton

E. L.

Carpenter

Agar

A. D.

Logan

(2013). High-risk sexual offenders: An examination of sexual fantasy, sexual paraphilia, psychopathy, and offence characteristics. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.01.007