NCJ Number
111172
Date Published
1987
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes a behaviorally oriented treatment program for sex offenders at Oak Ridge, a maximum security hospital in Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
The philosophy underlying the program is that sexual behavior is learned; therefore, behavioral procedures can be used to treat persons who exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviors. Using behavioral methods, therapists assist the patients in unlearning inappropriate behaviors and in learning appropriate behaviors. The patients child molesters and rapists fall into three distinct legal categories: (1) those committed for pretrial or presentence psychiatric assessment, (2) those who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit for trial, and (3) those referred from other institutions as severe management problems or certified as mentally ill. The program began by using conditioning to modify child molesters' inappropriate sexual-age preferences and has evolved to a multifaceted program of skill acquisition and self-control. The five components of the Oak Ridge program (laboratory assessment of sexual arousal, problem identification, heterosocial skill training, sex education, and modification of inappropriate sexual preferences) are described in detail. Evaluations of similar behavioral sex offender programs have indicated that child molesters who had been treated showed a reduced rate of recidivism in the short term. The treatment of rapists is apparently not as successful, and no differences in recidivism were found between treated and untreated rapists. 50 references.