NCJ Number
98474
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Drawing upon experience in operating a sex offender treatment program at the Connecticut Correctional Institution at Somers, this paper identifies problem characteristics of such clients, suggests treatment approaches to address them, and examines some of the obstacles and limitations imposed by an institutional setting.
Abstract
Sex offenders have pronounced personality deficits which include a sense of worthlessness, a feeling of helplessness, impaired social relationships, a dysphoric mood state, mismanagement of aggression, and a tenuous masculine identity. The goal of treatment is to reduce the risk of the sex offender's recidivating. The treatment assumptions at the Somers institution are that the sex offender must change his internal psychological state and his environment to reduce the risk of recidivism and that sexual assaultiveness results from defects in development rooted in early neglect, maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Treatment goals are to assist the offender in (1) acknowledging he has a problem through an understanding of his symptoms, (2) accepting responsibility for his actions, (3) reevaluating his attitudes towards sexuality and aggression, and (4) realizing that sexual assaultiveness is compulsive behavior over which he must gain control. Because the sex offender will not self-refer for treatment, he must be identified at admission, be manipulated into treatment, be confronted about his destructive behavior, and be offered practical treatment alternatives. The Somers treatment components are reeducation, resocialization, and counseling. Disadvantages in working with sex offenders in a correctional setting and measurements of program success are noted. Six references are listed.