Reflections on the development of the nota policy ‘working with adults and adolescents who exhibit sexually abusive behaviours: The use of sexually salient and pornographic materials’

Abstract

In 1994 the Policy and Ethics Sub-Committee of The National Association for the Development of Work with Sex Offenders developed and published a policy on the use of ‘sexually salient and pornographic’ materials in working with adults and adolescents who exhibited sexually abusive behaviours. Here, Alix Brown, one of the originators of this policy, reflects on the reasons it was brought into being and its relevance to sex offender treatment now. The policy document follows this article.     

The internet and offending behaviour: A case study

Abstract

Summary: The COPINE Project at the Department of Applied Psychology, seeks to address children's vulnerability in relation to the Internet and child pornography. As part of the project, offenders convicted of downloading such images have been interviewed. This paper considers existing models of offender behaviour alongside literature relating to Internet use. A single case study is used to illustrate a process-focused model of offending, using interview material to demonstrate how the offender represented and accounted for his behaviour. The offender in question had no history of engaging in sexual behaviour with actual children, but his case illustrated many of the stages described by offenders in their involvement with pornography, including: setting events, engagement, collecting behaviour, and the emergence of relationships.     

美国性犯罪者登记制度的实证研究及反思

对性犯罪者进行登记是美国等西方国家普遍采用的用于遏制性犯罪的做法。但不少研究表明,性犯罪立法在控制性犯罪和减少再逮捕率方面并没有起明显作用,相反,性犯罪者登记制度给相当一部分性犯罪分子带来了诸多负面影响。关于性犯罪者登记制度需要进一步的研究,研究内容包括性犯罪者登记法是否能够减少性犯罪行为,谁来对登记程序进行监管,该制度对性犯罪者及其家庭的影响,以及实施登记法律的成本。     

“Keeping Children Safe”: the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in Scotland

Abstract

This article describes the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in Scotland known as Keeping Children Safe (KCS), and the wider community engagement strategy developed by the charity Stop it Now! Scotland. The author coordinated the disclosure scheme on behalf of Police Scotland from November 2011 to March 2014. He is employed by Stop it Now! Scotland as a project officer. In 2011, Stop it Now! Scotland took over responsibility for the coordination of the KCS scheme from the Police. This work is embedded within a community engagement strategy known as the Upstream Project. The Upstream Project provides information to “community-facing” agencies to use in their interface with groups or individual adults in the community. To achieve this, a prevention toolkit was developed which includes a range of practical information and resources which adults can use to identify potential risk and take steps to prevent sexual abuse from occurring.     

The role of cognitive distortions in paedophilic offending: Internet and contact offenders compared

Abstract

Cognitive distortions are held to contribute to sexual offending against children in a number of theoretical explanations of such crimes. However, not only is there little or no direct evidence in support of the centrality of cognitive distortions in offending but recent research has questioned whether the concept has explanatory power. Cognitive distortions are variously seen as necessary for the offender to offend against children, as post-offending justifications for the offence, or as reflecting distorted patterns in the offender's upbringing. This paper explores the role of cognitive distortions in sex offending by comparing the distortions of contact sex offenders against children with Internet child pornography offenders without contact offences against children. A new cognitive distortions questionnaire was developed which was suitable for administration to Internet offenders who had no contact offences against children as well as being suitable for contact offenders. It was found that some cognitive distortions are frequently agreed with by sex offenders against children whereas others were seldom or never agreed with. Little support was found for earlier typological approaches to the cognitive schema of sex offenders against children. Contrary to the expectation that contact offenders would have more cognitive distortions, it was found that Internet offenders had more cognitive distortions that children are sexual beings. Furthermore, there were no differences in cognitive distortions justifying the offence. However, offenders with a previous history of offending were more likely to admit to cognitive distortions which justify their offending. It is accepted that cognitive distortions are readily recognized in interviews with sex offenders against children. Nevertheless, it is argued that there is a need for new research to stimulate a new understanding of the nature and role of cognitive distortions in sex offending.     

The ‘Butner Study’ Redux: A Report of the Incidence of Hands-on Child Victimization by Child Pornography Offenders

This study compared two groups of child pornography offenders participating in a voluntary treatment program: men whose known sexual offense history at the time of judicial sentencing involved the possession, receipt, or distribution of child abuse images, but did not include any “hands-on” sexual abuse; and men convicted of similar offenses who had documented histories of hands-on sexual offending against at least one child victim. The goal was to determine whether the former group of offenders were “merely” collectors of child pornography at little risk for engaging in hands-on sexual offenses, or if they were contact sex offenders whose criminal sexual behavior involving children, with the exception of Internet crimes, went undetected. Our findings show that the Internet offenders in our sample were significantly more likely than not to have sexually abused a child via a hands-on act. They also indicate that the offenders who abused children were likely to have offended against multiple victims, and that the incidence of “crossover” by gender and age is high.

Evaluation of the assessment and treatment of a child sex offender: A case study

Abstract

There is indisputable necessity for engaging child sex offenders in effective therapy to reduce recidivist rates. However, it is becoming increasingly recognised that, to do this, more contemporary psychological methods of treatment are being utilised instead of, or as well as, imprisonment.

To establish what constitutes effective therapy requires the constant search for new and successful treatments. To achieve this, it is advantageous to follow preexisting successful methods of treatment but to acknowledge that therapy must be adapted according to an individual's unique presenting difficulties and therapeutic needs.

This paper details assessment techniques, evaluation of psychological dysfunctions, the therapy plan and treatment outcome of a convicted child sex offender. Specifically, Mr X's background history, psychological dysfunctions and progress, using a functional analysis approach, are examined in detail with critical review of the therapeutic intervention.     

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FROM SEX OFFENDERS: HAVE WE GONE TOO FAR?

On July 27, 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This federal statute was created to serve as a tougher, more modern improvement of its predecessor in the ongoing effort to protect children from dangerous sexual predators. However, the Act did not amend the controversial federal mandate that all 50 states include the crimes of kidnapping and false imprisonment against a minor, committed by a nonparent, and without any sexual motivation or misconduct, as a crime requiring a wrongdoer to register as a sex offender. This Note demonstrates how the kidnapping and false imprisonment requirements of the Adam Walsh Act have led to a misuse of state sex offender registries to the detriment of the children they claim to protect. The solution that this Note proposes will provide each individual state with the freedom to decide how, if at all, these contentious offenses will fit into its sex offender registry, taking into consideration the state's unique statutory language, available child protective resources, and constitutional limitations. As a result, petty criminals who do not pose any real or specific threat to children will no longer be grouped with the most dangerous and violent sexual predators, child protective funds will be better utilized, and the public's attention will be refocused on the real threats to children, thereby satisfying the spirit and purpose of the Adam Walsh Act.     

Policies and Developments Relating to the Sexual Exploitation of Children: The Legacy of the Stockholm Conference

This article begins by noting the huge amount of attention that is now being paid at almost every level – international, European, national and by independent organisations and NGOs – to the growing problem of international child sexual exploitation and considers why this is the case. It then comments briefly on what we mean by international sexual exploitation, noting that different definitions are used. The main part of the article reviews developments in this field, beginning with the main international measure: the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and then goes on to review the 1996 First World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation (the Stockholm Congress). After that some key measures subsequently adopted at international and national level, as well as by the European Union (which is increasingly taking international child sexual exploitation within its remit) are outlined. Lastly, some final thoughts are set out in the conclusion.     

Application of the clinical polygraph examination to the assessment,treatment and monitoring of sex offenders

Abstract

Post Conviction Clinical Polygraph Examination Testing (Lie Detector Testing) offers significant opportunities for assessing, treating and monitoring sex offenders. This article briefly reviews the historical development of polygraph techniques including the physiological measures employed, the administration of the polygraph and the interpretation of data collected. Criticisms of polygraphy are explored and information concerning the scientific acceptability of these procedures is given. The current influence of polygraphy in sex offender work is reviewed. Evidence is given of the utility of polygraphy in reducing denial, improving treatment outcomes and more effectively supervising sex offenders on probation or license. Cost benefit considerations are examined, as well as the need for further controlled research and future regulation of the polygraph, if it is to be introduced in Britain. Planned UK Trials are described.     

Utilizing Criminal History Information to Explore the Effect of Community Notification on Sex Offender Recidivism

While sex offender registration laws with notification provisions are now over a decade old, little is known about how these policies influence the prevention of sex offending. Very few studies have considered the impact of notification on sex offender recidivism or the effect of these laws on sex crimes, generally. This study considers the effectiveness of offender tracking and declaration at the state level through evaluation of current sex offender laws in Arkansas. Using a quasi‐experimental regression‐discontinuity design, this research evaluated the recidivism of the first three waves of sex offenders registered in the state (1997–1999) vs. a comparison group of sex offenders from a decade earlier (1987–1989). Findings indicate there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of recidivism. Policy implications are discussed.