NCJ Number
215383
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 83-98
Date Published
January 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study sought to identify factors predictive of sex offenders who volunteered for treatment or self-selection as well as those who entered treatment after volunteering or administrative selection.
Abstract
Results suggest that motivation is an important predictor of both treatment volunteerism and treatment entry among incarcerated sex offenders. Both internal motivation, the recognition of a problem with sexual deviance and readiness to change sexual behaviors, as well as external motivation, a recommendation by a judge at the time of sentencing, increased a person’s likelihood of volunteering for sex offender treatment. Very little research has compared the effects of mandatory sex offender treatment with that of voluntary sex offender treatment. In addition, there is no published research that has investigated the types of offenders who volunteer for and are accepted into voluntary treatment programs. However, studies of treatment volunteerism are important for identifying whether target populations are being reached, as well as serve as first steps in addressing methodological issues related to selection into treatment. Participants of the study included 404 treatment volunteers and 387 non-volunteers to treatment who were convicted of a sexual offense involving minors within the Federal prison system. Tables, references