Psychological assessment, treatment, and outcome with sex offenders

Abstract

The frequency and impact of sexual offenses have led to the recent enactment of sexual “predator” laws. Such laws are intended to reduce sexual violence through treatment and involuntary confinement. Sixty years ago, similar laws identifying “sexual psychopaths” were enacted and, in many states, eventually repealed for multiple reasons; among those reasons was an inability to demonstrate that treatment had any significant impact on recidivism. That inability forced us to reexamine, among other issues, the population(s) which undergo treatment, the outcomes that are used to measure treatment effectiveness, and the processes that constitute treatment itself. Those issues are considered in this paper through a review of treatment programs based on psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive–behavioral theories. Although the evidence is sparse, it is fair to conclude that the latter have been found to be effective. We call for dynamic measures, effective treatments, and the resources necessary for both developments. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sex offenders, housing and spatial restriction zones

“…In fact, much of what we know about sex crimes comes from information gathered about convicted offenders. This, of course presumes that these individuals are representative of a larger sex offender population who remain unidentified/unknown to law enforcement agencies (Wood et al 2000).…”

Sexual offenders treatment models

“…Promene u tretmanu praćene su promenama u shvatanju učinkovitosti tretmana seksualnih prestupnika. U osnovi, razlikuju se tri shvatanja: jedno, po kojem "ništa ne deluje"; drugo, po kojem "nešto deluje" i treće, koja postavlja pitanje "šta zapravo deluje u tretmanu seksualnih prestupnika" (Wood, Grossman & Fichtner, 2000).…”

Exploring Potential 'Extra-Familial' Child Homicide Assailants in the UK and Estimating their Homicide Rate: Perception of Risk--The Need for Debate

“…Grossman et al (1999) asked the moral and practical question, are child sex abusers treatable. Or, put it another way, if they lack the motivation to change (Wood, 2000;Ward et al, 2002), and have a penchant for violence, are they safe to live amongst us?…”

“…No suicides were found amongst the VMCCSA and MCCS, suggesting that they had little or no remorse, without which there is no effective treatment (Beckett et al, 1994;Wood, 2000;Nurcombe et al, 2000;Coleman & Milner, 2000).…”