U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Treatment and Sexual Offence Recidivism

NCJ Number
198644
Journal
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse: A Review Journal Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2003 Pages: 70-89
Author(s)
Leam A. Craig; Kevin D. Browne; Ian Stringer
Date Published
January 2003
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the research literature concerning the outcomes of treatment for sexual offenders.
Abstract
The authors explain that treatment effectiveness for sexual offenders remains a hotly debated topic, mainly because there has been a lack of systematic research on treatment outcomes for this group of offenders. Cognitive-behavioral treatment has become the most widely used treatment for sexual offenders because it is believed this type of treatment is the most effective at reducing recidivism. The authors reviewed the 19 studies about this type of treatment that have been published since 1995. In their review, the authors focused on methodological techniques and consistency. Their findings from this review reveal that one-third of the studies used sound methodological techniques to conclude that cognitive-behavioral treatment was effective at reducing recidivism among sexual offenders. The authors call for more sound methodological research in order to determine the most effective treatment strategies for reducing recidivism in this population of offenders. Tables, references