Study counters notion that sex offenders are inevitable recidivists

Sex offenders are not as hopelessly fated to a life of deviant behavior as is widely believed, especially if they stay in corrective treatment, according to a new study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (Vol. 66, No. 2, p. 348?362).

Canadian psychologists R. Karl Hanson, PhD, and Monique T. Bussiere, PhD, recently reviewed 61 studies covering more than 23,300 cases of sex offenses and found that only 13.4 percent of the individuals identified in the studies went on to commit another sex crime. They found that individuals who did reoffend had committed more sexual offenses, had more deviant sexual interests?such as sex with boys or victimization of strangers?and did not complete their rehabilitative treatment programs.

Hanson and Bussiere admit that many offenses may go undetected, and recidivism rates could increase as more time passes. But still, the findings contradict the wide-held notion that most sex offenders inevitably repeat their deviant behavior, they add.

'Treatment programs can contribute to community safety,' they write. 'We now have reliable evidence that those who attend and cooperate with treatment programs are less likely to reoffend than those who reject intervention.'

Hanson and Bussiere are corrections researchers at the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada.

?S. Sleek