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Spring 2000, Vol. 8, No. 1
Why Treat Sex Offenders?
People ask STOP IT
NOW! staff quite frequently, "Why do you advocate for the
treatment of sex offenders? Does it even work?" Men and women
in prison for sexual abusing ask us more than any other question,
"Can I get treatment?"
What does treatment have to do with prevention?
Does treatment for abusers have anything in it for victims? Victims
need access to treatment when they suffer sexual assaults. But
victims also should have the assurance that the person who committed
the wrong against them has been offered special sex offender treatment
and has made the commitment not to offend again.
People who have abused need specialized treatment
because many of them, even when they want to stop, need help to
do it. This is true whether the people who have abused are adults
or young people. Some folks may abuse once and get caught or tell
someone, but that is not true for many people. Many abusers have
multiple victims and/or multiple offenses.
Some adult offenders abuse children only in certain
situations. They also maintain adult relationships. Other offenders
only focus their sexual attention on children. Some offenders
start offending as adults; others start as young people. Some
develop a chronic, abusive pattern at an early age.
Each person who has offended sexually against
a child needs an assessment of his or her sexual offending history
and behavior, conducted by a specially trained treatment provider.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys arrange for these assessments.
A good psychosexual evaluation will identify the kind of treatment
that a person should undergo, either in an outpatient, community
setting, or in a prison program. Some people who have abused need
to participate in short-term treatment groups. Others need long-term
and in-depth group and individual work to help them make the fundamental
and necessary changes in their sexual attraction and behavior.
The legal system will participate in arranging for their treatment.
Sex offender treatment is needed to prevent abuse
for two reasons. The first is that offenders who complete specialized
programs are less likely to offend again than those who do not
complete such programs. One researcher, Margaret Alexander, recently
looked at 79 treatment programs that had treated 10,988 people.
Eighteen percent of sex offenders who had not received treatment
re-offended. Treatment improved this re-offense rate by five percent.
Second, STOP IT NOW! believes that more abusers
would step forward for help if they knew that treatment was available.
The offenders who are caught and end up in treatment are a small
percentage of all the people who are offending—some estimates
put the number as low as two percent. That leaves millions of
unacknowledged, untreated abusers out there. STOP IT NOW! has
heard from abusers that they need to know there is hope and that
treatment works. The more we make treatment available the more
future victims will be spared.
People who treat sex offenders should belong to
the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), a
professional organization that conducts training and offers ethics
and standards of treatment. STOP IT NOW! staff are active in ATSA
by helping to promote good practices and by drafting policies
which affect treatment. Readers interested in ATSA policies may
visit the ATSA website at www.atsa.com.
Like other people burdened with behavior problems,
even those with criminal penalties like drug-abusing, people who
abuse need to hear hope that they can change. Since most sexual
abusers live in our communities now or will return from prison
to live among us, good quality programs are necessary to keep
our children safe.
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