The Utility of the Random Controlled Trial for Evaluating Sexual Offender Treatment: The Gold Standard or an Inappropriate Strategy?

Marshall, William L.; Marshall, Liam E.

doi:10.1177/107906320701900207

Cited by 117 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In the present case, we cannot point to a specific component of our intervention that may be responsible for the observed improvements in TE, not least because of the highly individualized treatments employed in our program. The commentary by Marshall and Marshall (2007) on the challenges of evaluating flexible, individualized treatment programs may be instructive in this regard.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

Smallbone

Crissman²,

Rayment-McHugh³

2009

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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This article reports a test of multisystemic predictors of therapeutic engagement (TE) with adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs), and an evaluation of clinical efforts to improve TE with this client group. First, clinicians rated their TE with 105 Australian court-referred male ASOs (M = 15.53 years; SD = 1.30 years), who participated in treatment between 2001 and 2005. For this cohort, correlation analysis showed impulsivity/antisociality, negative peer relationships, and indigenous race to be associated with poorer TE. Multiple regression analysis identified impulsivity/antisociality and indigenous race as significant unique predictors. Clinical efforts subsequently focused on improving TE, particularly with higher-antisocial youth and with indigenous youth and their families. Clinicians then rated TE with a second, independent cohort of 54 court-referred male ASOs (M = 15.44 years; SD = 1.22 years), who participated in the modified treatment between 2006 and 2009. A two-way ANCOVA, controlling for impulsivity/antisociality, indicated significant improvements in TE for both indigenous and non-indigenous ASOs. Despite these general improvements, indigenous ASOs remained comparatively less engaged than their non-indigenous counterparts.

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Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

Smallbone

Crissman²,

Rayment-McHugh³

2009

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…As one of only a few such methodologically rigorous treatment evaluations, it is cited extensively, often as evidence that sexual offender treatment does not work. Closer inspection of this study, however, reveals 5 considerable methodological weaknesses, such as significant differences in pretreatment risk levels between the treatment and non-treatment groups and the large number of non-volunteers for the study (see Marshall & Marshall, 2007). Clearly, we have an obligation to continue to strive for enhanced treatment effectiveness in light of the potential cost to innocent victims when treated offenders re-offend.…”

Section: How Effective Is Sexual Offender Treatment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Use of Therapeutic Communities With Sexual Offenders

Ware¹,

Frost

Hoy³

2009

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Sexual offender treatment programs are often facilitated in secure settings such as prisons or psychiatric hospitals, which are not ideal environments for such treatment.Arguably, however, when these environments are structured as therapeutic communities (TCs), opportunities are created to enhance the effectiveness of treatment. We describe the concept of a therapeutic community, its operating principles and rationale, as well as the benefits and rationale for establishing TCs in conjunction with cognitive behavioral treatment with sexual offenders. We discuss this in terms of the potential of TCs to improve targeting of treatment content; to enhance treatment process; to provide optimal environments for therapeutic gain; and to provide a broad therapeutic framework for treating sexual offenders. We review and summarize what evidence exists for the use of TCs with both non-sexual offenders and sexual offenders. Finally, we highlight the gaps in our knowledge of the use of TCs in order to inspire further empirical and conceptual consideration of these issues .

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“…For example, only 6 of the 80 program evaluation reviewed by Lösel and Schmucker (2005) were based on randomization. The next best research design recommended by researchers has been referred to as "incidental assignment" which are possible when there are no obvious reasons to expect pre-treatment differences between the experimental group and the control group Marshall & Marshall, 2007). Such designs are often possible when there are insufficient resources to provide treatment to all offenders considered for the study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community re-entry and the path toward desistance: A quasi-experimental longitudinal study of dynamic factors and community risk management of adult sex offenders

Lussier

Gress

2014

Journal of Criminal Justice

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A successful community re-entry is a step toward desistance from sex offending. The re-entry phase is critical because it can trigger dynamic risk factors that can lead to a re-offense. In that context, community risk management is seen as pivotal to moderate the impact of community re-entry and associated stressors. The current study, therefore, examines the dynamic factors associated with a successful community re-entry, taking into account the type of community supervision offenders were subjected to. This prospective longitudinal study is based on a quasi-experimental research design where offenders (n=169) were subjected to different types of community supervision (intensive supervision versus regular probation services). Community re-entry outcomes were assessed through the presence of technical violations and/or a new criminal offence. Cox proportional hazards showed that offenders with negative community re-entry outcomes were younger, at-risk of sexual violence, under intensive community supervision, and had more negative social influences and self-regulation deficits. Of importance, intensive community supervision significantly moderated the impact of negative social influences but negatively impacted those with self-regulation deficits. The study provides evidence that dynamic risk factors are important during re-entry and may operate differently under different supervisory conditions.

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The Utility of the Random Controlled Trial for Evaluating Sexual Offender Treatment: The Gold Standard or an Inappropriate Strategy?

Cited by 117 publications

References 65 publications

Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

A Review of the Use of Therapeutic Communities With Sexual Offenders

Community re-entry and the path toward desistance: A quasi-experimental longitudinal study of dynamic factors and community risk management of adult sex offenders

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