Repository logo
 

When sexual offender treatment in prison-based social-therapeutic treatment is not completed: Relationship to risk factors and recidivism after release.

Simple item page
cam.issuedOnline2021-10-23
dc.contributor.authorCarl, Lena C
dc.contributor.authorLösel, Friedrich
dc.contributor.orcidCarl, Lena C [0000-0002-8732-6083]
dc.date.accessioned2021-10-24T04:34:15Z
dc.date.available2021-10-24T04:34:15Z
dc.date.issued2021-12
dc.date.submitted2020-07-06
dc.date.updated2021-10-24T04:34:15Z
dc.descriptionFunder: Bavarian State Ministry of Justice
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Various studies have demonstrated that people who do not complete sex offender treatment have higher recidivism rates than completers or untreated controls. The mechanism behind this association, however, remains unclear. One explanation is that responsivity issues are more prevalent in high-risk offenders, making treatment failure and recidivism more likely, especially if treatment intensity is insufficient to match criminal needs. In addition, dropout may have a negative effect on offenders by increasing feelings of frustration or self-doubt. AIMS: To retest for a link between treatment discontinuation and recidivism by sex offenders and analyse the mechanisms mediating the link between treatment discontinuation and their recidivism. We hypothesise that non-completion has a negative effect on recidivism after controlling for a priori differences in risk of recidivism. METHODS: We analysed data from all sex offenders released from Bavarian prisons between 2004 and 2015 who had participated in prison-based social-therapeutic treatment and compared non-completers (n = 100) to offenders ending treatment as planned (n = 428). Criminal risk, offence characteristics, and treatment-related propensities were measured by a comprehensive assessment instrument, including the Static-99. Recidivism data were obtained from Federal Official Records with an average time-at-risk of 9.43 years (SD = 3.29). RESULTS: Treatment non-completion was significantly associated with recidivism after controlling for criminal risk, offence characteristics and treatment duration. This was mainly accounted for by men who had spent at least two years in treatment before premature termination and return to an ordinary prison setting. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings aid understanding the potentially negative impact of discontinuing social-therapeutic treatment for male sex offenders; termination after substantial commitment may be particularly problematic. Future research should encompass large enough sample sizes to study details behind staff or prisoner decisions to return the prisoner to ordinary prison conditions and to mitigate harms by loss of privileges.
dc.identifier.doi10.17863/CAM.77269
dc.identifier.eissn1471-2857
dc.identifier.issn0957-9664
dc.identifier.othercbm2220
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/329824
dc.languageen
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherWiley
dc.publisher.urlhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2220
dc.subjectattrition
dc.subjectoffence characteristics
dc.subjectoffender treatment
dc.subjectprison
dc.subjectrecidivism
dc.subjectsex offenders
dc.subjectCriminals
dc.subjectHumans
dc.subjectMale
dc.subjectPrisons
dc.subjectRecidivism
dc.subjectRisk Factors
dc.subjectSex Offenses
dc.titleWhen sexual offender treatment in prison-based social-therapeutic treatment is not completed: Relationship to risk factors and recidivism after release.
dc.typeArticle
dcterms.dateAccepted2021-09-30
prism.publicationNameCrim Behav Ment Health
rioxxterms.licenseref.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
rioxxterms.versionVoR
rioxxterms.versionofrecord10.1002/cbm.2220

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
cbm.2220.xml
Size:
8.01 KB
Format:
Extensible Markup Language
Description:
Bibliographic metadata
Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
cbm.2220.pdf
Size:
254.42 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version
Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Download

Collections

Jisc Publications Router