NCJ Number
105598
Date Published
1987
Length
135 pages
Annotation
This book describes the goals and treatment strategies of Hennepin County's (Minnesota) residential juvenile sex offender treatment program, a nine-stage, family-milieu specialized program.
Abstract
The program, which has treated over 200 juvenile sex offenders over its 10-year history, operates within a State-licensed, coed, correctional residential treatment facility for juveniles adjudicated delinquent. Two of the school's seven cottages house juveniles committed for sexually offending. The program aims at providing a 24-hour 'healthy family' milieu in which behavioral and attitudinal change can occur. Treatment approaches have been influenced by a variety of treatment theories and modalities, including gestalt therapy, guided group interaction, positive peer culture, psychodrama, transactional analysis, behavioral modification, and family systems theory. The residents are guided through nine stages that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They include orientation, resistance to change, the confusion and frustration of giving up familiar defenses, bonding with staff and peers, the offender experiencing himself as victim, integration, honesty about feelings and victims, developing empathy, and reintegration. Structured educational courses for residents cover sex education, feelings and emotions, fantasies, sexual abuse, homsexuality, self-defeating behaviors, grief, sex roles, assertiveness, and psychological defenses. Seventy-seven percent of the juveniles who enter the program complete it, and approximately 94 percent of the graduates have not become involved in any reported sexual offenses up to 1 year after release. Appendixes contain an intake interview guide, a treatment planning form, a progress report form, program statistics, and resource list.