STEP 3: AN EVALUATION OF THE PRISON SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT PROGRAMME

NOVEMBER 1998 United Kingdom:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study was commissioned by the Home Office to evaluate the efficacy of treatment for sex offenders in Category C prisons. The work is third part of the STEP (Sex Offender Treatment Evaluation Project) research.

The first part (reported by Barker & Morgan, 1993) outlined a framework for evaluating community-based treatment. The second part (Beckett, Beech, Fisher & Fo rdham, 1994) rep o rted an evaluation of seven representative community treatment programmes run by, or for, the Probation Service. The STEP team is currently investigating the impact of the Core Programme on a sample of men who have offended against adult victims and/or are sexual murderers .

The Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) began in 1991 as part of a national strategy for the integrated assessment and treatment of sex offenders. It is currently run in 25 establishments.

The central part of the SOTP is the Core Pro gramme, whose pri m a ry purpose is to increase the offender’s motivation to avoid re-offending and to develop the self-management skills necessary to achieve this.

Comprehensive assessment is also an integral part of the programme which informs decisions about the nature of future risk of the offe n d e r. The ‘ori ginal’ ve rsion of the Core Pro gramme consisted of 35 to 40 two - h o u r sessions but was later ‘revised’ to approximately 86 sessions including additional elements such as role play.

Group-work, known to be an effective way of delivering treatment, has been central to the SOTP strategy, as by joining a group, a sex offender publicly acknowledges his need to change. Group-work also provides a context in which socially acceptable values are conveyed and ‘normal’ social interactions reinforced.

The treatment approach used is ‘cognitive-behavioural’ which research indicates to be particularly effective in the treatment of child abusers.

• The ‘cognitive’ aspect involves recognising the patterns of distorted thinking which allow the contemplation of illegal sexual acts and understanding the impact which sexually abusive behaviour has on its victims.

• The ‘behavioural’ component of treatment invo l ves reducing sexual arousal to inappropriate fantasies of forced sexual activities with children and adults.

Establishments running the SOTP are subject to accreditation by an international panel of experts. The panel assesses the quality of treatment, written outcome reports, tutor availability and management support. ..more.. by Anthony Beech, Dawn Fisher and Richard Beckett