NCJ Number
195507
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: 2001 Pages: 117-125
Editor(s)
.
Date Published
2001
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study surveyed all the agencies in South Carolina that provide treatment services for sex offenders in South Carolina in an effort to investigate the impact of the Internet on treatment services for sex offenders and investigated treatment programs’ perceptions of the role of family in assisting treatment providers in monitoring this issue.
Abstract
In order to evaluate treatment providers’ perceptions of the impact of the Internet on the treatment of sex offenders, this study surveyed all agencies in South Carolina providing treatment services to sex offenders. A number of inquiries were made through the survey: (1) the type of treatment services provided; (2) the respondent’s knowledge and level of comfort with technology; (3) whether there was any program policy regarding clients’ use of the Internet; (4) the respondent’s perception of the capacity of the probation and parole department to effectively monitor the use of the Internet among their clients; and (5) the respondent’s perception of the role of the family in assisting the treatment program relating to Internet use. This study provided the first empirical data on treatment programs’ efforts to monitor the misuse of the Internet by their clients. Thirteen agencies responded to the survey. Survey results indicated that treatment programs for sex offenders in South Carolina had not fully considered the issue of Internet misuse by their clients and were ill equipped to address the issue. There was also a concern with the discrepancy between the lack of policies presently in place and the degree of importance respondents placed on the issue. Most treatment programs had no policy regarding Internet use by their clients. The study supported the limited amount of information currently available on probation and parole officers, suggesting that these officers had neither the resources (i.e., computers) nor the technical ability to provide adequate monitoring of the sex offenders. The most significant implication of these findings was that treatment providers in South Carolina felt poorly equipped to deal with this issue themselves and they lacked the confidence in the abilities of probation and parole officers to address it. The results provide some alarming information about the impact of the Internet on the treatment of sex offenders. References