From Research to Practice: Designing a Treatment Program for Individuals Convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation Material

Abstract

The term evidence-based is increasingly found in treatment manuals and program titles designed for individuals convicted of a sexual offense. However, whether the presented evidence truly qualifies as “evidence-based” is questionable. I will share my experience as the clinical director for a private outpatient agency where we designed a program based on the existing peer-reviewed literature on individuals convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) offenses. I will describe the steps that we followed in developing a workgroup to explore and apply the knowledge from research to our clinical practice. We adapted the term evidence-informed to acknowledge that the program relied on existing literature in combination with the experiences and expertise of our clinical team. A fictitious case that reflects an amalgamation of facts is presented to demonstrate the assessment and treatment processes. Implications for organizational consensus to conduct program evaluation and research are discussed.

Risk assessment of child-pornography-exclusive offenders.

“…As a descriptive matter, one instrument—the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT)—has been specifically developed to assess the risk of recidivism among child pornography offenders (Seto & Eke, 2015). Despite the promise of this instrument for assessing such risk in general and the fact that it is already being used in forensic practice (Azizian, 2021), only a handful of validation studies of the CPORT have been conducted and none of them have focused on offenders in the United States. Commentators have offered mixed advice regarding the use of the CPORT in forensic practice.…”

“…Likewise, online solicitors of children for sexual acts could be fundamentally different on many dimensions relevant to development, treatment, and risk assessment than these other two groups. For example, online solicitors differ in terms of age, deviant arousal, past offending history, relationship status, and employment status, among other factors (Azizian, 2021).…”