Assessment of In-Treatment Change With Sexual Offenders.

Assessment of In-Treatment Change With Sexual Offenders, Jan Looman, Regional Treatment Centre, Canada; Jeffrey Abracen, Correctional Service of Canada and Leigh Harkins' School of Psychology, Canada

We identified potential dynamic predictors of sexual re-offense by examining scores on a battery of psychometric instruments administered at pre- and post-treatment in the Regional Treatment Centre Sexual Offender Treatment Program (RTCSOTP). The RTCSOTP provides assessment and treatment service to sexual offenders incarcerated in the Ontario Region of the Correctional Service of Canada. Treatment is provided only to those offenders who present a high risk to re-offend and who have a high level of treatment needs, so this sample provided a unique opportunity to identify potential targets for intervention in a difficult client group. Measures included the Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI), the Adult Self-Expression Inventory, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the Bumby Rape and Child Molester Cognitive Distortions Scales, The High Risk Situations Test, The Miller Social Intimacy Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, The Coping Using Sex Inventory, The Relapse Prevention Knowledge Test, the MAST, and the DAST. The initial sample included all sexual offenders who had been assessed by the RTCSOTP since 1992 (N = 550), although some analyses were restricted to a subsample of these. We examined the relationship between recidivism and pre-treatment and post-treatment scores separately, as well as the relationship between changes on these instruments and recidivism. Changes from pre- to post-treatment were examined by means of paired samples t-tests, while the relationship between psychometric measures and recidivism was explored with logistic regression. Preliminary analyses indicated that significant relationships between MSI sub-scale, the High Risk Situations test, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the MAST, and the Adult Self-Expression Scale and recidivism exist. We discussed results in terms of potential areas of intervention, effectiveness of treatment, and the potential impact of psychopathy on treatment outcome and the interpretation of test results.