Treatment Success of a Community-Based Program for Young Adolescent Sex Offenders (From Handbook of Sex Offender Treatment, P 48-1 - 48-9, 2011, Barbara K. Schwartz, ed. - See NCJ-243091)

• NCJ Number: 243139
• Author(s): Fred Schmidt, Ph.D.; Laura Heinz, Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2011
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Civic Research Institute, Inc
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter reports on the methodology and findings of an evaluation that determined treatment outcomes for 33 adolescent sex offenders who had completed at least 1 year of a community-based treatment program (The Sexually Healthy Attitudes and Relapse Prevention program).

Abstract

Only 3 percent of the youths committed another sexual offense in the 28-month follow-up period. These early promising results suggest that intensive sex offender-specific treatment is effective in averting the continuation of sexual offending by high-risk adolescents who had multiple victims and/or had committed numerous offenses on the same victim. Although the results were promising for sexual reoffending, this was not the case for non-sexual reoffending; 37 percent of the offenders committed a non-sexual offense during the follow-up period. This suggests the need for a broader intervention focus for some adolescent sex offenders. Adolescent sex offenders with strong criminogenic characteristics apparently require more specific and intensive services that focus on factors related to non-sexual delinquent behavior. The treatment model used is primarily cognitive-behavioral in orientation, but uses an eclectic approach in the simultaneous delivery of group, individual, and family therapy. High priority is given to supervising and supporting the offenders while they are involved in the program. Monthly case conferences are held with the youth, parents, and treatment providers. These conferences are used to assess treatment progress and modify approaches where indicated. The study included adolescents who participated in the program between December 1990 and December 1995. Recidivism results were obtained for the 33 youths who had participated in the program for over 12 months. As the current sample of adolescent sex offenders increases, along with the length of the follow-up time, reexamination of recidivism data for the program will allow a more in-depth investigation of risk factors. 2 tables and 18 references