Predictors of Recidivism in Australian Juvenile Sex Offenders: Implications for Treatment

Juvenile sex offenders charged with their first sexual offence were compared with recidivist juvenile sex offenders who had been charged with more than one sexual offence on a number of factors related to sexual offending. Participants were 70 male juvenile sex offenders, aged 13–21 years who were awaiting court disposition. Negative family history, negative family characteristics, school and learning problems, social skill deficits, deviant sexual experiences, deviant sexual fantasies, and cognitive distortions were assessed for their direct and mediating roles in recidivism. Path analysis indicated that poor social skills, learning problems, and deviant sexual experiences were causally related to recidivism of sexual offending. Poor social skills were directly related to recidivism, whereas cognitive distortions and deviant sexual fantasies mediated the role of learning problems and deviant sexual experiences. There was a significant association between deviant sexual experience and learning problems. The findings support the role of cognitive distortions and deviant sexual fantasies in recidivist sexual offending for this sample. The causal role identified for poor social skills and learning problems in recidivism for sexual offending has implications for treatment and therefore deserves further attention.     

Factors Associated with Treatment Compliance in a Population of Juvenile Sexual Offenders

Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess predictors of outcomes in a sample of 204 juvenile male sexual offenders participating in community-based treatment programming. Lower levels of client denial at intake predicted successful program compliance. Higher levels of denial were found in nonadjudicated youths. Although program attrition was high (50% in the first year), relatively few youths were expelled for sexual (4.9%) or nonsexual delinquency (6.6%) over a 12- to 24-month period. Program failure during years 1 and 2 was attributable largely to expulsion for failure to comply with attendance requirements and/or therapeutic directives. Youths failing to comply were found to have higher overall levels of measured sexual maladjustment and may be at greater long-term risk for sexual recidivism. Implications of the findings for clinical risk assessment, and directions for future research, are discussed.     

Assessing Victim Empathy in Sexual Offenders Using the Victim Letter Task

In attempting to enhance victim empathy, it is common to have sexual offenders write an apology letter to their victim. This task is thought to reveal the level of empathy that the sexual offender has for his victim. However, until now there has been no reliable method for judging the quality of empathy revealed in the victim letter. This paper reports the development and evaluation of 2 templates to score letters written to child victims and adult victims, respectively. An acceptable level of interrater reliability was obtained for the templates. Deficits revealed by the templates did not correlate with scores on a generic empathy measure but did correlate with scales measuring minimization and denial. The measures were also sensitive to change following empathy training.     

Pregnancy and Drinking among Women Offenders under Community Supervision in the United States: 2004–2008

Drinking during pregnancy raises risks of pregnancy, labor, and delivery complications in mothers and lasting neurological or behavioral consequences in babies. This public health issue has recently attracted the attention of criminal justice (CJ) researchers, as the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) appears to be unusually high among offender populations. Nevertheless, in addition to becoming a main caretaker of individuals with FASDs, the CJ system already may have under its care some of the women at the highest risk of drinking during pregnancy. This study sets out to determine the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of alcohol consumption among women offenders on probation or parole in the United States. Analysis of data collected from seven waves of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004-2008) were performed on women who were under community supervision during the year prior to the survey interview. Results revealed that 1.9% of women of child-bearing ages of 12-44 years in the general population were pregnant, as compared to 4.7% of comparable women under community supervision. Pregnant offenders were more likely to come from minority groups and be socially disadvantaged than their non-CJ-involved counterparts. Alarmingly, they were nearly three times as likely to have engaged in problem drinking (e.g., two drinks a day for a month) than non-CJ-involved women. Negative behavioral consequences resulting from alcohol consumption and concurrent use of other substances were also significantly more pervasive among drinkers under community supervision. Effective prevention and control of the problem requires rethinking the role of corrections systems in health promotion. Concrete recommendations are discussed.     

Youth Justice staff attitudes towards screening for self-harm

Young offenders are recognised as a high-risk group for suicidal behaviour. It is essential that the screening used to identify those at risk and refer them to mental health services is effective, especially in community settings where service utilisation is low. Staff attitudes towards screening for suicide and self-harm are likely to influence how a young offender engages with the screening process. Our study is the first to explore community youth justice staff attitudes towards, and perceptions of, screening for self-harmful behaviour. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted at an English Youth Offending Team in June 2006 with staff who had used the suicide screening tool with young offenders. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Staff attitudes towards working within the screening system varied along two dimensions. The first 'active/passive' dimension related to perceived confidence in dealing with self-harm. The second 'positive/negative' dimension related to perceptions of the benefits of screening and the effectiveness of mental health provision for young offenders. Results indicate that barriers to effective screening must be tackled at both individual and organisational levels. The model of attitudes presented here could be used to increase understanding of how staff can be supported to engage effectively with the screening system.     

The Effectiveness of Project Adventure's Behavior Management Programs for Male Offenders in Residential Treatment

This study was undertaken to investigate the treatment outcome differences between youth offenders from the joint commission accredited residential treatment center (RTC) and youth from a non-accredited center. Results showed that youth from the accredited center reported significantly more progress.     

A revised sexual knowledge assessment tool for people with intellectual disabilities: is sexual knowledge related to sexual offending behaviour?

Background The aim of the current study was to update an existing short measure of sexual knowledge and generate some initial reliability and normative data. Comparisons of sexual knowledge across several groups were made to examine whether or not a lack of sexual knowledge is related to sexual offending. Methods The Bender Sexual Knowledge Questionnaire (BSKQ) was revised, and a new questionnaire, the General Sexual Knowledge Questionnaire (GSKQ), was created and administered to four groups of participants: (1) sex offenders with an intellectual disability (ID) and a history of engagement in treatment (n = 12); (2) sex offenders with an ID and no history of treatment (n = 13); (3) non‐offenders with an ID (n = 28); and (4) non‐offenders without an ID (n = 10). Between‐group comparisons were made; internal consistency, split‐half reliability and correlations were examined. Results The internal consistency and the split‐half reliability of the entire questionnaire was good. Non‐offenders without an ID scored significantly higher than non‐offenders with an ID on all sections of the GSKQ. Sex offenders who had undergone treatment scored significantly higher than non‐offenders with an ID on several sections of this questionnaire. Conclusions The initial findings from this study suggest that the psychometric properties of the GSKQ are promising. The assumption that lower sexual knowledge may be related to the risk of committing a sexual offence by people with IDs is possibly erroneous, and further research is required to clarify this possibility.     

精神发育迟滞患者犯罪行为责任能力的研究

研究影响精神发育迟滞患者犯罪行为责任能力的主要因素。方法以１３１例司法鉴定案例的辨认能力和控制能力为分类变量进行多因素判别分析。结果经判别分析，选取了作案类型，平素性格、诊断分级、是否伴精神病及异常状态、是否受骗及作案动机６个因素为判定辨认能力的判别因素，选取了作案动机、受教育年限、婚姻状况、诊断分级、平素性格、伴精神病否及异常状态，伴癫痫否及异常状态、作案类型８个因素为判定其控制能力的判别因素，建立了判别方程，组内回代检验其总正确率分别为８３．２％和８２．４％。结论本研究对精神发育迟滞患者犯罪时责任能力的判定可提供科学依据。     

Treatment Alliance in Residential Treatment of Criminal Adolescents

Research on relationship aspects in residential treatment of criminal young persons has largely been neglected despite the general finding in treatment research that such aspects have a large bearing on outcome. In this article, two studies of associations between relationship aspects and outcome in this treatment context are presented. In one of them, two treatment units practicing Aggression Replacement Training and CBT-techniques and 2 U with more conventional, relationally oriented treatment approaches were studied using process questionnaires and interviews. In the other study, adolescents who had been sentenced to treatment were interviewed about treatment experiences 1 year after release. Despite considerable attrition, several interesting findings were noted: The boys’ alliance ratings were associated with the collaborative aspect of the staff’s alliance ratings, but not with the bond aspect; warm and close staff feelings were related to negative outcome and the boys’ conceptions of the treatment model but not of the relationship with the staff was associated with positive outcome. The results suggest that a distinction should be made between a mutual bond aspect of the staff−boy relationship that was not related to outcome and a collaborative aspect which was related to outcome.     

Masturbation prohibition in sex offenders: A crossover study

Some self-help groups for individuals with aberrant sexual interests (e.g., Sexaholics Anonymous and Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous) maintain that a period of “sexual sobriety” is necessary for treatment. The hypothesis was tested that sexual urges during a 30-day period of voluntary abstinence from masturbation would be less frequent and intense than during a period when masturbation was not avoided. Outpatient pedophiles were randomly assigned to either refrain from masturbating or make no attempt to alter their masturbation frequency for a period of 30 days. All participants were crossed over to the other treatment condition at the start of the 2nd month. Sexual urges and behavior were measured using weekly self-reports. A repeated measures ANOVA failed to show a difference in reported intensity of sexual urges,F(7, 91)=1.15,p=0.34; masturbation urges,F(7, 91)=1.73,p-0.11; adult sex urges,F(7, 91)=1.82,p=0.09; or child sex urges,F(7, 91) =1.58,p=0.15, in Masturbation Allowed vs. Masturbation Not Allowed conditions. Of 17 participants, 3 (18%) were able to retain completely from masturbating for 1 month, 4 participants (25%) thought it was helpful not to masturbate; 1 participant (7%) thought therapists should recommend avoidance of masturbation. This study suggests that sexual sobriety from masturbation does not aid in the control of pedophilic fantasies. This may be because the technique is ineffective, or because so few participants are willing to engage in it.