NCJ Number
155174
Journal
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 61 Issue: 4 Dated: (1993) Pages: 646-652
Date Published
1993
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined recidivism rates among three groups of child molesters incarcerated in Ontario, Canada, where they had been sentenced to 2 to 24 months for a sexual offense against a child.
Abstract
The treatment group included 106 offenders who had been treated between 1965 and 1973 and for whom recidivism data were available. The subjects were divided according to the sex and relationship of their child victims (boys only, extrafamilial girls, heterosexual incest, and children of both sexes). The control groups included a sample of 31 offenders who were selected from the same institution as the treatment groups but in the years before the treatment program was offered, and 60 offenders who were sentenced to the same institution at the same time as the treatment group. Of the total sample of 197 child molesters, 42 percent were reconvicted for a sexual offense, a violent offense, or both during the follow-up period, which lasted between 15 and 31 years; 23 percent were reconvicted more than 10 years after being released. Subjects in the treatment group improved on almost all the personality and mental health measures, but these results did not translate into lower recidivism rates. Risk factors for repeat offending included molesting boys, never being married, and having had committed previous sexual offenses. 2 figures, 2 tables, 2 notes, and 47 references