Treatment efficacy of a juvenile sexual offender treatment program

Byrne, Sheila M. (1999) Treatment efficacy of a juvenile sexual offender treatment program. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This study deals with the efficacy of a juvenile sexual offender treatment program in reducing further offending. The retrospective exploratory research was conducted with 32 juvenile sexual offenders who had been sentenced to secure custody at the Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Centre in Whitbourne. Each of these offenders, while in custody, had completed varying degrees of a treatment program, entitled 'Healthy Lifestyles. The program was led by facility therapists between April 1994 and October 1997. There were three groups. Group 1 completed the program, group 2 was not offered the program, and group 3 completed the educational component ofthe program. The study investigated both sexual and nonsexual recidivism of the three groups. It explored factors such as prior convictions, typology, sex of victim, and post release follow-up period. It also investigated a single case of juvenile sexual recidivism. The findings suggested that the educational component of the treatment program was effective in reducing both sexual and nonsexual recidivism. The nonsexual recidivism rate of offenders, who completed the educational component of the program, was much lower than the recidivism rate of the group of juveniles who were not exposed to any of the treatment components. There was a positive correlation between follow-up period and nonsexual recidivism. Juveniles who were not exposed to any of the treatment programs were more likely to re-offend as the follow-up period increased.

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