Method for Treating the Adolescent Sex Offender (From Violent Juvenile Offenders - An Anthology, P 347-363, 1984, Robert A Mathias et al, ed. - See NCJ-95108)

• NCJ Number: 95180
• Author(s): S Lane; P Zamora
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-95108.

Annotation

Juvenile sex offenders can be successfully treated, as shown by the experience of the Closed Adolescent Treatment Center (CATC), a treatment unit for violent juvenile offenders in Colorado.

Abstract

Initial CATC efforts with youthful sex offenders produced the belief that treatment was effective, but a series of rapes by one youth who ran away from a work program caused a reexamination of the treatment programs. These had been following classic psychoanalytic techniques. The program was changed to provide a separate sex offenders' group housed in a secure setting, with activities provided to pressure offenders to change their behavior. The major focus of the overall treatment program is to improve interpersonal relationships to the point where violent youths not only stop harming others, but become helpful to them. Both objective and subjective tests determine whether these goals are achieved. The five phases of treatment are penetrating denial and dealing with the sexual assaults the youth has committed, identifying the individual's rape cycle and working with the daily manifestations of the cycle, addressing unresolved emotional issues, providing retraining to counter skill deficits, and facilitating reentry into the community. Support for the therapists is essential for them to deal with job stress.