A Controlled Evaluation of a Prison-Based Sexual Offender Intervention Program

Abstract

The effectiveness of a prison-based cognitive behavioral program designed to modify psychological risk factors associated with sexual offending was evaluated. The Irish Prison Service Sexual Offender Intervention Programme, is a manualized 10-month Cognitive Behaviour Therapy [CBT] program involving three 2-hour group sessions per week, which are facilitated by a team of clinical psychologists and probation officers. Improvements in 38 consecutive referrals to the program were compared with the status of 38 untreated offenders who were similar in marital status, age when they left school, occupational status prior to imprisonment, offence type, presence of previous convictions, and current sentence length. All research participants completed the same assessment protocol, which evaluated psychological factors associated with sexual offending at times equivalent to pre- and postintervention. Compared with the untreated control group, program participants showed statistically significant improvement on some but not all self-report measures of cognitive distortions, empathy, interpersonal skills, self-regulation, and relapse prevention. Motivation to change among the untreated control group was not associated with change in psychological functioning in the absence of the assistance of the treatment program. Implications for sexual offender intervention delivery are considered.

Keywords

evaluation of sex offender programs sex offender treatment motivation to change

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Beckett, R. , Beech, A. , Fisher, D. , & Fordham, A.S. ( 1994). Community-based treatment of sex offenders: An evaluation of seven treatment programmes. London: Stationary Office.

Beech, A. , Fisher, D. , & Beckett, R. ( 1998). STEP 3: An evaluation of the prison sex offender treatment programme. London: Stationary Office .

Bumby, K.M. ( 1996). Assessing the cognitive distortions of child molesters and rapists: Development and validation of the MOLEST and RAPE Scales. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 37-54.

Burt, M.R. ( 1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217-230.

Carr, A. ( 2006). Family therapy: Concepts process and practice (2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Central Statistics Office. (2002). Census Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Author.

Cohen, J. ( 1988). Statistical power analyses for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Department of Justice. (1993). A proposal for a structured psychological treatment programme for sex offenders: Discussion document. Dublin, Ireland: Stationary Office.

Hanson, R.K. , Bourgon, G. , Helmus, L. , & Hodgson, S. ( 2009). The principles of effective correctional treatment also apply to sexual offenders: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 36, 865-891.

10.

Hanson, R.K. , Gordon, A. , Harris, A.J.R. , Marques, J.K. , Murphy, W. , Quinsey, V.L. , et al. (2002). First report of the collaborative outcome data project on the effectiveness of psychological treatment for sex offenders . Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 14, 169-193.

11.

Hanson, R.K. , & Scott, H. ( 1996). Empathy for Women Test-Version 2, scoring and information sheet.

12.

Irish Prison Service. (2002). Sex offender programme manual. (Available from the Irish Prison Service, Dublin, Ireland).

13.

Keltner, A.A. , Marshall, P.G. , & Marshall, W.L. (1981). The description of assertiveness and social fear in a prison population. Corrective and Social Psychiatry, 27, 41-47.

14.

Kenworthy, T. , Adams, C.E. , Brooks-Gordon, B. , & Fenton, M. ( 2003). Psychological interventions for those who have sexually offended or are at risk of offending. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 4, CD004858.

15.

Losel, F. , & Schmucker, M. ( 2005). The effectiveness of treatment for sexual offenders: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Criminology , 1, 117-146.

16.

Marshall, W.L. , Anderson, D. , & Fernandez, Y. ( 1999). Cognitive behavioural treatment of sexual offenders. New York: Wiley.

17.

Marshall, W.L. , Fernandez, Y. , Hudson, S. , & Ward, T. ( 1998). Sourcebook of treatment programmes for sexual offenders . New York: Plenum.

18.

Marshall, W.L. , O’Sullivan, C. , & Fernandez, Y.M. (1996). The enhancement of victim empathy among incarcerated child molesters. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1, 95-102.

19.

Murphy, P. ( 1998). A therapeutic programme for imprisoned sex offenders: Progress to date and issues for the future [Special issue]. Irish Journal of Psychology, 19, 190-207.

20.

Nichols, H.R. , & Molinder, I. ( 1984). Multiphasic Sex Inventory manual: A test to assess the psychosexual characteristics of the sexual offender. Tacoma, WA: Nichols & Molinder.

21.

Novaco, R. ( 1994). Anger as a risk factor for violence among the mentally disordered. In J. Monaghan & H. Steadman (Eds.), Violence and mental disorder: Developments in risk assessment (pp. 21-59). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

22.

Russell, D. , Peplau, L.A. , & Cutrona, C.E. ( 1980). The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472-480.

23.

Salter, A.C. ( 1988). Treating child sex offenders and their victims: A practical guide. London: Sage.

24.

Waldron, B. , O’Reilly, G. , Carr, A. , Randall, P. , Shevlin, M. , Dooley, B. , et al. (2006). Factor structures of measures of cognitive distortions, emotional congruence, and victim empathy based on data from Irish child sex offenders. Irish Journal of Psychology, 27, 142-149.