Therapy groups and humanistic approaches to sex offender rehabilitation

Sex Offenders: The Need for More Therapy Groups for Better Rehabilitation

The objective of this work is to examine the present provision for therapy for sex offenders that enables their effective rehabilitation and what is needed to address the needs of sex offenders in regards to rehabilitation.

The focus of this brief study is the population of sex offenders in the United States who, upon release from prison are directed to sign up as sex offenders but who are offered little in the way of treatment or rehabilitation.

The Need

It is reported that the state of California is "willing to put $6 million toward the creation of small pocket parks" but does not fund treatment programs for sex offenders in prisons. In fact, rather than putting forth effort "to displace registered sex offenders, the state needs to address the problem of transient and repeat offenders." ( an, 2013, p.1)

Controversy in Previous Research Findings

. It is reported that current available studies reported have no control group since withholding sex offender treatment from a group of sex offenders is not a viable option. The variation in the recidivism rates published is stated to be remarkable and among studies that do use control groups the control group is comprised by sex offenders who do not want to participate in treatment. Therefore, these controls groups do not allow appropriate comparison. While the studies are inconclusive insofar as their effectiveness, it is certain that treatment vs. The alternative of no treatment is the best option for rehabilitation of sex offenders rather than simply turning the offenders out of prison into society making the likelihood of reoffense much greater without any provision of treatment.

Summary and Conclusion

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding treatment and rehabilitation of sex offenders and while studies show that treatment and rehabilitation programs are successful, there still is the issue of a lack of empirical studies to support this idea. However, treatment vs. The alternative of no treatment is the most viable option. As stated by the Saybrook Forum, there are methods of treatment that have reported success in treating and rehabilitating sex offenders. Arising from this brief study is a recommendation that sex offender treatment and rehabilitation programs be made available for sex offenders throughout the United States upon their release from prison.