Current empirical assessment methods for adolescents and children who sexually abuse others

The assessment of adolescents and children who commit sexually abusive behavior is a complex and challenging task. Incorporating empirically based assessment methods into psychosexual evaluations promises appropriate coverage of relevant domains, sound interpretation of the meaning of data, reduced clinician biases and error, and greater certainty in decision-making. In this paper we review empirically-based assessment methods currently available for use in psychosexual assessment of adolescents and children who sexually abuse others. Our review describes the robustness of these measures and provides guidance for their appropriate use in assessment. The review highlighted that several empirically-based measures are suitable for clinical use with adolescents, but very little is available to guide assessment of children\u27s abusive behavior per se. </i

An Australasian approach to offender rehabilitation

The development of offender rehabilitation programmes in Australasia has, in many ways, paralleled that which has occurred in other Western countries. This chapter offers an overview of the offender rehabilitation programmes currently offered by correctional services and considers some of the key challenges that currently face rehabilitation providers. It starts by providing an overview of Australasian jurisdictions, before outlining the types of programme that are currently offered. The chapter concludes with a discussion of some of the distinctive features of offender rehabilitation in Australasia, and comment on some of the challenges that face service providers in this area

Cognitive distortions in child molesters: Theoretical and research developments over the last two decades

Cognitive distortions have become an important focus for professionals working with child molesters since the early 1980s. In this paper, we describe and discuss both the theoretical and methodological developments of child molester's cognitive distortions that have evolved over the past two decades. We conclude that although theory and research development has been a little slow in this topic, several interesting theoretical and methodological developments have been made in recent years. We describe how we believe such developments will further increase the conceptual clarity of cognitive distortions and provide some suggestions for other future developments in this field

Rape: Psychopathology, theory and treatment

Whether treatment programs are effective at rehabilitating rapists is yet to be determined empirically. From a scientist–practitioner perspective, treatment should be based on an empirical understanding of rape and rapists, and evidence-based knowledge of treatment outcome with rapists. In this paper we comprehensively review the characteristics of rapists, etiological features implicated in the commission of rape, and relevant treatment outcome research. We pay particular attention to contemporary knowledge about the core vulnerabilities and features required to understand and treat rapists effectively, and, where possible, highlight similarities and differences between rapists, child molesters and non-sexual violent offenders. We use an epistemological framework to (a) critique the various etiological accounts of rape available and (b) help guide professionals' use of such knowledge in both treatment design and evaluation. Gaps in the understanding of rapists' characteristics and etiological features are highlighted, as are discrepancies between current knowledge and treatment approaches. We conclude by highlighting areas for future research and practice innovation

Risk management or goods promotion: The relationship between approach and avoidance goals in treatment for sex offenders

In this paper, we propose that there is a direct relationship between risk management and goods (or goal) promotion in the treatment of sexual offenders. We argue that the causal conditions required to promote specific goods are likely, in turn, to eliminate or modify dynamic risk factors (i.e., criminogenic needs). First, the concepts of risk and goals are briefly discussed and their important dimensions clarified. Second, the relationship between criminogenic needs and goals are analyzed in depth. Third, we further clarify our arguments by focusing on four classes of criminogenic needs recently identified in the sexual offending literature: sexual self-regulation, offense supportive cognitions, level of interpersonal functioning, and general self-management problems. Finally, we conclude the paper with some suggestions for future research and treatment. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserve