Prison programs that have been in place for decades to rehabilitate convicted sex offenders may not work at all, according to a new study.
Sex offender treatment programs — in which offenders follow a syllabus aimed at “normalizing” their sexual impulses and fantasies — have not been shown to reduce the likelihood that sex offenders will change their behavior after they get out of jail, forensic psychiatrist David K. Ho in the BMJ medical journal.
“No evidence from academic or policy research has shown that the treatment program significantly reduces sexual reoffending,” David K. Ho, a forensic psychologist at South Essex Partnership University in England, writes in BMJ. “Victims and the public deserve to know this.”
--> “Sex offenders are sent to prison, undergo this treatment program, are deemed to have been somewhat rehabilitated and are released to the public,” Ho wrote. “However, they are as likely to offend as before receiving treatment.”
In 2012, a major review of sex offender treatment programs concluded that for a regime that has been imposed on so many prisoners, there had not been nearly enough research proving its worth. No one has done studies rigorous enough to prove that it’s useless either, though — and that lack of data is a real problem. “Not only could this result in the continued use of ineffective (and potentially harmful) interventions, but it also means that society is lured into a false sense of security in the belief that once the individual has been treated, their risk of reoffending is reduced,” the authors wrote. “Current available evidence does not support this belief.”
--> Sex offenders who receive outpatient treatment are less likely to repeat offend than those who don’t receive this treatment, but the efficacy of sex offenders’ treatment while in prison is questionable at best. “Treatment varies widely — most programs combine cognitive behavioral therapy with lessons about empathy and anger management — and, in most cases, never ends,” writes Rachel Aviv in the New Yorker.
Sex offender treatment programs — in which offenders follow a syllabus aimed at “normalizing” their sexual impulses and fantasies — have not been shown to reduce the likelihood that sex offenders will change their behavior after they get out of jail, forensic psychiatrist David K. Ho in the BMJ medical journal.
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“No evidence from academic or policy research has shown that the treatment program significantly reduces sexual reoffending,” David K. Ho, a forensic psychologist at South Essex Partnership University in England, writes in BMJ. “Victims and the public deserve to know this.”
--> “Sex offenders are sent to prison, undergo this treatment program, are deemed to have been somewhat rehabilitated and are released to the public,” Ho wrote. “However, they are as likely to offend as before receiving treatment.”
In 2012, a major review of sex offender treatment programs concluded that for a regime that has been imposed on so many prisoners, there had not been nearly enough research proving its worth. No one has done studies rigorous enough to prove that it’s useless either, though — and that lack of data is a real problem. “Not only could this result in the continued use of ineffective (and potentially harmful) interventions, but it also means that society is lured into a false sense of security in the belief that once the individual has been treated, their risk of reoffending is reduced,” the authors wrote. “Current available evidence does not support this belief.”
--> Sex offenders who receive outpatient treatment are less likely to repeat offend than those who don’t receive this treatment, but the efficacy of sex offenders’ treatment while in prison is questionable at best. “Treatment varies widely — most programs combine cognitive behavioral therapy with lessons about empathy and anger management — and, in most cases, never ends,” writes Rachel Aviv in the New Yorker.
References
1. BMJ Journal
2. NCBI
3. NewYorker
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