Although sex offender treatment is an established clinical department, results concerning the effectiveness of how it handles its task has been slow to gather up. Treatment outcome studies are going on and one carried out in California best known as Sex Criminal Management and Assessment Scheme is used to give light to the several troubles that are intrinsic in the research. The program managers and clinicians are now being urged to assess the effect of the services of clinicians to provide the knowledge base on treatment effectiveness. Several questions have been passed to determine the effectiveness of the treatment of sex offenders (Janice, p. 237). They include: How long should the culprits be imprisoned for their crimes of forcing sex acts on adults or children? How should they be monitored following release? Does psychological treatment in prison affect the risk of committing further offenses? And how can courts balance offenders’ potential for rehabilitation with a community’s need to protect its citizens?
The response to such questions has been diverse and the policies formulated have been advocating for long imprisonment although many psychologists and policy advocates have been criticizing such policies as they don’t regard the nature of sex offenders. The response shows that most culprits are not likely to repeat their crimes while raising the efficacy of the offender treatment to prevent such acts through recognition and avoidance of criminal impulses. The response of the legislature to the public’s outcry has been providing stiff penalties for sex criminals, raising money for programs that manage sex criminals, and taking actions to make sure that more criminals are managed. This requires essential information about the number of management programs in operation and the figure of sex criminals who receive treatment is lacking. Analysis of the report on crime and conviction data produced by the Department of Public Safety and also interviews carried out on officials and staff from the Departments of Corrections and Human Services, community corrections administrators, probation officers, criminal justice professionals, and officials from sex offender treatment programs reveal that the figure of reported sex offenses tripled between 1971 and 1984, but has been moderately stable since then (International Journal, p. 241).
Various treatment providers have been offering the treatment in residential facilities and some are funded and operated by the state. Sex criminals obtain about three times of hours of treatment in correctional and residential facilities. The interview done on national literature shows that only a few assessments of adequate worth of sex offense management have so far been done to make a final judgment about the effectiveness of sex offenders’ treatment. Also, evaluations of sex offender treatment are very hard to plan and carry out. Most are affected by a lack of methodologies, such as lack of a proscribed contrast of unmanaged sex criminals, limited measures of repeated offenses, small samples, or insufficient follow-up periods (Karen, p. 52)
Few programs are provided for a continued follow-up, monitoring, and aftercare services. Although a considerable figure of sex criminals received treatment, there are inadequate local residential treatment programs to meet demand. The department also lacks enough staff to implement all of the legislature’s policies, which comprise of providing new management programs in the prisons and training trial officers in sex criminal administration. Due to the lack of enough evidence about treatment efficiency, policymakers have to come up with decisions on management in other areas, such as communal opinion, ethics, and attitude, probable risks, and profits, or cost consideration (Program Legislative Auditor, p. 121).
Annotated bibliography
Dennis M. D. & Pamela M. Y. Efficiency of Sex Offender Treatment for Sexual Offenders. Research Services, Ottawa, Canada, 2008.Page 234-245.
The author gives an insight of the met-analysis carried on sex offender treatment and in the end it was concludes that the completion of such treatment is associated with lowered sexual recididivism rates of the culprits. He writes that a test of the “self-selection explanation” can occur by investigating treatment effect on known high-risk offenders. The book is relevant to the research as the information in the book can enable one to make a clear conclusion to the efficiency of the offender treatment.
Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. International Journal, Vol. 52, No. 2, page 237, 2008.
The journal gives the response the legislature made after the public’s concern about sex crimes. It lays the steps taken by legislature such as toughening of the penalties for sex offenders, increase of money for programs that treat sex criminals and taking actions to make sure that more sex criminals receive management. The journal provides sufficient information to find out whether such offender treatments are efficient.
Program Evaluation Divisional legislative auditor. Sex Offender Treatment Programs. St. Paul, MN 55155, 1994, Page 121.
The author writes by answering various questions that were intended to determine the effectiveness of sex offender treatment. The report on offense and fervor information provided by the section of public security, highest court, sentence guiding principle commission, and office of planned and extended range planning is analyzed. Also gives an account of interviews on officers and staff from the section of rectification and human Services, society corrections administrators, probation officers, criminal justice professionals and officials from sex offender treatment programs operating in the fall of 1993. Finally, the writer shows a reviewed national study of treatment effectiveness. The data provided from the various departments are significant in finding out the sufficient quality of such treatments.
Karen Kersting. New hopes for sex offender treatment. Kansas: University of Missouri. Page 52.
Karen provides research suggestions of psychological treatment which help reduce recidivism among convicted sex offenders. Shows questions that are to determine the sufficient quality of the correctional system’s management of sex offenders. The questions used include: How long should the culprits be imprisoned due to their crimes offenses against adults or children? How should they be watched after release? Does psychological management in prison affect the danger of repeating other offenses? And how can courts balance sex criminals’ ability for rehabilitation with a community’s need to protect its citizens? The questions posed are fundamental to a researcher who aims at determining the effectiveness of the treatment.
Janice K. Marques. Does Sex Offender Treatment Work? California Department of Mental Health. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 14, No. 4, 437-451, 1999.
Janice’s book shows that sex criminal management is a reputable clinical department and proof regarding its efficiency has been slow to build up. The writer gives an example of an ongoing treatment outcome study carried out in California known as Sex offender Treatment and Evaluation Project (SOTEP). The example provided by Janice essential has been used to emphasize various troubles that are intrinsic in this research and to demonstrate well-designed studies. One of the problems is that there is inadequate donation to the experimental database on management efficiency. Such kind of information is important as it guides the researcher to come up with a well designed study plan that will effectively be used in the research.