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The Strengths of Treatment for Sexual Offending

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Treatment of Sex Offenders

Abstract

It is not disputed that sex offender treatment could be more effective in terms of reducing reoffending. However, enhancing effectiveness does not necessarily mean we need to start again entirely in designing programmes. This chapter will discuss in what ways we have got sex offender treatment “right”. Applying the principles of evidence-based practice, which elements of sex offender treatment programmes, as typically described, “pass the test”? Which treatment targets, and which treatment methodologies, have been empirically tested and found to be appropriate and effective? Drawing on meta-analyses, individual outcome studies, participant feedback studies and evaluations using intermediate outcomes such as attitudinal change, the chapter considers what we know about what works with sex offenders, in terms of who benefits from programmes, what programmes should target and how programmes should be delivered. We conclude that few components of typical sex offender programmes can be described as evidence based, some are evidence informed in that they are theoretically sensible but under-researched, and some are unlikely to be effective. One problem might be the expectation that treatment programmes can stand alone as the method by which reoffending is reduced. Instead, it is likely that programmes need to be delivered in a wider context that supports personal change and provides social and emotional support beyond the confines of the therapy room.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Offender Management Service, Clive House, 70 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EX, UK

    Adam J. Carter Ph.D. & Ruth E. Mann Ph.D.

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  1. Adam J. Carter Ph.D.
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  2. Ruth E. Mann Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Adam J. Carter Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Behavioural Assessment, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    D. Richard Laws

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    William O'Donohue

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Carter, A.J., Mann, R.E. (2016). The Strengths of Treatment for Sexual Offending. In: Laws, D., O'Donohue, W. (eds) Treatment of Sex Offenders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25868-3_7

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