NCJ Number
177921
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 396-410
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This overview of the treatment of sexual offenders in Belgium focuses on the evolution of Belgian public opinion and penal law regarding sex offenses, treatment programs and techniques, and controversial issues in the treatment of sex offenders.
Abstract
In the early 1980s, the focus of interest in Belgium shifted from the victims of violence in general to the more emotionally charged sexual violence in particular. This led to new penal laws on rape, pornography, and pedophilia. Treatment for sex offenders is provided in a variety of settings in Belgium: prisons, psychiatric hospitals, outpatient facilities, and community residential support facilities. The treatment of sex offenders in prison does not currently exist; mental health workers in eight prisons have the expertise to assess, evaluate, and prepare sex offenders for ambulatory treatment in a specialized mental health facility. Belgian psychiatric care is well organized at the Federal level and accessible for each citizen for acute as well as chronic psychiatric disorders, but specialized inpatient treatment units for sexual abusers are scarce. The lack of medium-security forensic units in psychiatric hospitals is a limiting factor. Two specialized nonresident centers provide extensive treatment for sex offenders. Both centers have developed treatment approaches derived mainly from current North American and Canadian programs. A discussion of controversial issues currently being debated in Belgium regarding the treatment of sex offenders focuses on the conflict between punishment and treatment corrections goals, the role of coercion in treatment, and the liability of therapists who are treating high-risk clients. 19 references