There are few studies of therapists' reactions to working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, and almost none on reactions following sexual recidivism by a patient who is currently in treatment. Consequently, the aim of the current study was to analyze the cognitive and emotional reactions, as well as the intervention strategies, of therapists who have learned of the sexual recidivism of a patient. A total of 59 participants from the province of Quebec (Canada) completed a questionnaire on their reactions to this event. Participants' responses to their patient's recidivism varied as a function of gender, experience, and the way they learned of the recidivism. The most common cognitions reported were thinking of the victim and thinking about the consequences of further judicialization for the patient and those close to them. The most common emotions reported were sadness for the victim and fear that the patient would reoffend again. The most common intervention strategies were being sensitive to the experience of the patient and asking the patient what drove them to offend. Support measures for therapists working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses during treatment are discussed.
Despite spending more than any other county on incarceration and reentry programs, the United States continues to have some of the highest rates of reincarceration. Programs designed to teach inmates job skills, GED programs, and new Medicaid measures have proved moderately successful for reducing recidivism among certain offenders, but one class continues to suffer high recidivism rates. People imprisoned for opioid drug use are more likely to reoffend than any other group, but very few governments in different countries around the world have allotted the resources to establish effective treatment facilities, creating a cycle very few can escape. This project aims to secure funding from the Montana state government to implement Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid drug use in Montana prisons. MAT is a treatment plan that would reduce recidivism rates in Montana in an effective way. With this treatment plan, hopefully opioid users will be able to effectively help reduce recidivism and drug rates by using medical assisted treatment. During the 2021 legislative session, our group lobbied members of the Montana state government through phone calls, emails, and social media to secure support for a bill that provides funding for MAT treatment in prisons. We are a student group from the University of Montana that is a part of the Global Initiative program on campus. We are hoping to accomplish action on the issue of opioid use in the state and help reduce recidivism with this medical assisted treatment plan.
Recent research in the treatment of sexual offenders suggests that comprehensive cognitivelbehavioral approaches may yield lower recidivism. This study reviewed such a program, existing in Jackson County, Oregon, since 1982. Offenders were mandated into this community-based program upon conviction of a felony or misdemeanor sexual offense, and averaged 2-3 years of participation. A group of offenders who participated in the Jackson County program between 1985 and 1995 was identified through archival data from the Oregon Department of Corrections. The data revealed success or nonsuccess in treatment, and any new convictions for sexual or nonsexual offenses. A control group of nonsexual offenders in Jackson County, and a group of sexual offenders in Linn County who did not have access to any treatment program were also studied. As hypothesized, those Jackson County offenders who successfully completed treatment had lower recidivism rates than those who were unsuccessful in the program. The observed effect of the program was particularly strong for offenders who remained in treatment for 1 year or more. When review was restricted to those participants, the reoffense rate for Jackson County offenders was reduced by over 40% when compared with Linn County offenders.
Recidivism had become a source of conflict at a social setting detoxification facility and had been defined by the staff as a major treatment problem. Data from admissions lists, interviews with staff and clients, and participant observation would indicate that recidivism was not a major treatment problem. It is suggested that the attempt by staff members to resolve contradictions derived from two rival etiological theories of alcoholism as embodied within the facility's detoxification regimen was responsible for the identification of recidivism as a major treatment problem. Treatment implications are discussed.
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.
The prevalence of drug use among probationers, and the entire offender population, has been well documented. Numerous drug treatment modalities have been shown to reduce recidivism among this population; however, analyses of programmatic success are often based on a subset of offenders who complete treatment. Less is known about individuals who fail to complete treatment. The goal of the current study is to consider the interaction of drug use, drug treatment provision, and treatment completion on recidivism using data from the 2000 Illinois Probation Outcome Study. Findings from a series of proportional hazard models indicate that probationers who failed to complete treatment were more likely to be rearrested in the four years following discharge from probation, even when compared to individuals who needed treatment but did not enroll. Moreover, probationers who failed to complete treatment had more serious criminal histories and fewer ties to society. The research has important implications for the measurement of treatment provision in studies of recidivism, in specific, and more generally for the need to engage and retain probationers in drug treatment.
This study contributes to the substance abuse treatment literature by examining recidivism across treatment groups, the level of aggregation between the individual and the program. The sample consisted of 618 drug-involved offenders who participated in 12 different treatment groups within a single prison. Reincarceration significantly varied across groups, controlling for time at risk and treatment modality. This between-unit variation was explained by individual level treatment response measures and control variables. Results demonstrated that treatment effectiveness is impacted by the group in which the individual participates. These findings have substantial implications for correctional treatment theory, research, and policy.
Treatment programs for sexual offenders have been implemented in prison settings with the objective of reducing recidivism among released offenders. Reviews of the literature evaluating the efficacy of treatment have not found convincing evidence that institutional treatment reduces recidivism. However, these reviews have been most concerned with the possibility of a Type I error in hypothesis testing: specifically, that we might reject the null hypothesis when it is true, concluding that recidivism among treated offenders has been reduced compared with that of untreated offenders and concluding that treatment is effective when it is not. The present paper explores the risks of Type II error by examining the sensitivity of recidivism studies to treatment effects and the power of statistical tests of treatment hypotheses in recidivism studies. Using a series of "what if" analyses and power calculations, the sensitivity of statistical hypothesis testing was explored in recidivism studies under a variety of N's, base rates, and treatment effects. The size of treatment effects required for significance at the p < .05 level at various N's and base rates was calculated and the N required to obtain significance at the p < .05 level in the "average" recidivism study was estimated. This paper examines the sensitivity of statistical hypothesis testing in three of the most oft-cited recidivism studies of institutional sexual offender treatment. Recidivism studies were found to be quite insensitive to the effects of treatment and these findings are discussed with respect to the likelihood of a Type II error. Alternative methods of assessing sexual offender treatment efficacy are described and recommended
Drug - including opioid - dependence is common in correctional populations, however little research exists on interventions for women offenders. Based on retrospective administrative data, we examined rates of return to custody (RTC) among three samples of Canadian federal women offenders with problematic opioid use (total n = 137): (1) a group initiated on MMT during incarceration who continued MMT post-release (MMT-C; n = 25); (2) a group initiated on MMT but who terminated treatment post-release (MMT-T; n = 67), and (3) a non-MMT control group (MMT-N; n = 45). Study groups were similar regarding socio-demographic, drug use and criminogenic indicators. Based on an unadjusted Cox proportional hazards model, the MMT-C group had a 65% lower risk of RTC than the MMT-N (reference) group (HR 0.35, CI 0.13-0.90); RTC risk was not different between the MMT-T and the reference group. Most RTCs were for technical revocations (e.g. violation of a legal condition of their release). Continuous MMT following release from corrections appears to be effective in reducing recidivism in women offenders with opioid problems; barriers to MMT in the study population should be better understood and ameliorated.