Assessing and treating sexual offenders with mental disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Lord ◽  
Derek Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Good Lives ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of the role of mental disorder in sexual offending as well as identifying innovations in assessment and treatment with offenders who present with these typically complex risks and needs. Design/methodology/approach – The converging literatures on “good lives” and other developments in sexual offender treatment are compared with recovery from mental disorder and what is known about the particular needs and characteristics of sexual offenders with mental illness and severe personality disorder (PD). Findings – A key outcome of this review is that many mentally disordered sexual offenders have similar needs to those in prison and the community but there are particular challenges posed by severe PD, paraphilias and the relatively rare individuals whose offending is functionally linked to psychotic symptoms. Practical implications – Practical implications include the need for case formulation of complex needs related to mental disorder using direct and indirect measures of attitudes and interests. Treatment needs to be responsive to very different personality and mental health presentations as well as problems with offending and cognitive schemas. Direct functional links between mental health symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations are very rare in practice and are usually secondary to PD and sexual offending issues. In practice, treatment promoting recovery from mental disorder is highly compatible with the “good lives” approach to sexual offender treatment. Staff development, supervision and support are particularly important for staff treating mentally disordered sexual offenders. Originality/value – It is argued that mentally disordered sexual offenders are an under-researched sub-group within the wider sexual offender population. This paper brings together the relatively limited literature on treatment with examples of recent treatment innovations, multi-modal assessment approaches and reviews of research on the needs of this relatively uncommon but highly risky group.

Rape Treatment: An Overview of Current Knowledge

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Thakker ◽  
Theresa A. Gannon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Behaviour Therapy ◽  
Cognitive Behaviour

AbstractSexual offending is frequently seen by the lay person as being a result of an innate abnormality that is relatively fixed and unchangeable. Accordingly, sexual offenders are seen as more likely to recidivate than other types of offenders. In fact, this is not the case, and most sexual offenders do not re-offend. Also, contemporary research has shown that treatment programs driven by cognitive behaviour therapy significantly reduce rates of sexual offender recidivism. Nevertheless, while there has been a great deal of research on the treatment of child sexual offenders, the treatment of rapists has received comparatively less attention. Thus, the main aim of this article is to summarise current knowledge of sexual offender treatment, paying specific attention to the needs of rapists. In particular, we pay attention to the content of sexual offender treatment programs, and the relevance of this content to rape. We also discuss therapeutic issues of relevance for rapist treatment that are typically ignored or underestimated in the research literature. Finally, based upon our analysis of the literature, we present a schematic overview of rape treatment and identify important areas for further research.

Sexual offender treatment outcomes among psychopathy subtypes

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay A. Sewall ◽  
Mark E. Olver
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Cognitive Disability ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Treatment Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Psychopathy Checklist Revised ◽  
General Recidivism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine sexual offender treatment responses as a function of psychopathy subtype. Design/methodology/approach Measures of sexual violence risk, treatment change and outcome variables were coded retrospectively on a sample of 86 high Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scoring sexual offenders. Psychopathy subtypes were identified through cluster analysis of PCL-R facet scores. Findings Two subtypes were identified labeled classic and aggressive. They were comparable in their level of risk and need and did not differ in rates of treatment completion or change. The aggressive subtype had higher rates of violent and general recidivism and higher frequencies of major mental disorder and cognitive disability. Results of Cox regression survival analysis demonstrated that treatment-related changes in risk were associated with reductions in violent recidivism for the aggressive, but not classic, psychopathy variant. Practical implications Psychopathy is a heterogeneous syndrome. Moreover, psychopathic offenders can demonstrate risk relevant treatment changes. PCL-R facet profiles have important responsivity implications. However, not all psychopathic offenders fare poorly in treatment. Originality/value This is one of very few studies to examine treatment response and links to outcome among psychopathic offenders, particularly as this relates to subtype.

Good Lives sexual offender treatment for mentally disordered offenders

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Gannon ◽  
Tracy King ◽  
Helen Miles ◽  
Lona Lockerbie ◽  
Gwenda M. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Good Lives

Sex offender treatment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. W. Bradford ◽  
Giovana V. de Amorim Levin ◽  
Adekunle G. Ahmed ◽  
Sanjiv Gulati
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Actuarial Risk ◽  
Offending Behaviour

There are many misconceptions about sexual-offender treatment, which are particularly magnified when it comes to understanding and managing the risk of sexual offending in the community. Many of the misconceptions are based on faulty information about the types of treatment, treatment outcomes, and sexual-offence recidivism. Additionally, public misconception of sexual-offending behaviour in sexually deviant individuals creates stigma and fear. This is despite the large number of studies on sexual-offender treatment, recidivism, and treatment outcome available in the scientific literature. In fact, various actuarial risk-assessment instruments can be used to estimate the probability that a sexual offender will recidivate. Risk can be managed through treatment. The aim of this chapter is to review the evidence-based studies on the efficacy of sexual-offender treatment, as well as how the risk management of sexual offenders is currently implemented in sexual-offender treatment programmes.

Research Note: An Evaluation of Juvenile Sexual Offender Treatment

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. Lab ◽  
Glenn Shields ◽  
Connie Schondel
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Sexual Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offender Treatment ◽  
Juvenile Sexual Offenders ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Juvenile Sexual Offender ◽  
Better Than

Although interest in the treatment of juvenile sexual offenders has increased significantly in recent years, there are still few programs specifically geared toward these youths and few of the existing programs have been evaluated. This article presents an evaluation of one court-based program. The results show that youths handled in the program fare no better than youths processed through normal, nonoffense specific programming. These results suggest that the growth of interventions has proceeded without adequate knowledge of how to identify at-risk youths, the causes of the behavior, and the most appropriate treatment for juvenile sexual offending.

scholarly journals “Swimming against the tide”: conditional discharge from medium secure care

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-69
Author(s):  
Tanya McDonnaugh ◽  
Alan Underwood ◽  
Amanda Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Discharge Process ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Conditional Discharge ◽  
Good Lives ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) conditionally discharged from secure hospitals on a restrictive Section of the Mental Health Act (Section 37/41). Design/methodology/approach Data were derived from seven semi-structured interviews from three forensic community teams. Findings Thematic analysis identified seven predominant themes: (1) the uncertainty of the discharge timeframe; (2) fear of jeopardising discharge; (3) progress; (4) engagement with community life; (5) barriers to social engagement; (6) evolving identity and (7) someone to turn to. Findings are discussed in relation to the recovery model and the good lives model. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of fostering trust between MDOs and their care teams to encourage help-seeking. They also suggest that resources should be sequenced appropriately throughout the discharge process, to match the “window of engagement” and maximize impact and effectiveness. Originality/value This research gained rarely obtained first-hand perspectives from MDOs, with the findings contributing to a more effective evaluation of the discharge pathway.

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