The Effectiveness of Treatment Programs for Adult Sex Offenders

It has been debated for years whether treatment programs can reduce recidivism rates of adult sex offenders.  The findings are mixed and the debate continues.  In a literature review originally completed in 2007 and updated in January 2011, I surveyed 37 research studies published since 1984 which focused on treatment outcome as well as some published critiques and reviews of the studies.  Some studies show modest but significant effects of treatment while many others fail to show such effects.  Taken as a whole, the studies would seem to suggest that there is not yet clear evidence that treatment significantly reduces recidivism for most adult offenders.  However, some recent studies show that recidivism may be lower for offenders who remain in treatment longer, are supervised or “contained” following release, and whose risk and needs are better targeted.  To see and download the entire review, click here (Adobe Acrobat required).       

We believe that the data show that many if not most adult sex offenders will require ongoing supervision and containment until time-limited treatment programs can be shown to be more effective.  However, not all sex offenders will require intensive treatment and supervision and we believe that it is imperative that sex-offense-specific evaluations clearly identify, as best as possible, which do and which do not.

We are happy to receive comments and feedback about the review:  Contact Us.

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