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Friday, 30 June 2006 10:22

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Psychological therapy 'no cure for sex abusers'

A study by researchers from the Universities of London and Leicester claims that psychological treatment for adult sex offenders can reduce reoffending rates but does not provide a cure.

The researchers reviewed nine studies involving 567 offenders in the US, UK, Canada and Europe, they found some treatment programmes have cut re-offending by up to 40%.

Most sex offenders in the UK receive some form of psychological treatment, mostly from the NHS and prison and probation services.

It tends to take the form of talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy.

Fewer than 10% of sex offenders end up re-offending.

Report author Belinda Brooks-Green: "Offenders who successfully complete a treatment programme re-offend less often and less seriously than those who do not show that they have understood and worked through the relevant psychological issues".

But she warned sex offending cannot always be successfully treated.

"Better understanding of the outcomes of treatments - either controlling and moderating or harming and worsening behaviour - could at least focus on the most beneficial and cost-effective interventions”.

Zoe Hilton, policy adviser at the children's charity NSPCC, said she would like to see more research on the issue, particularly on the differences in re-offending between paedophiles and adult sex offenders.

She added: "In many ways it is not surprising, we know with good support and the will of the offender, we can reduce re-offending.

"But it does depend on the individual."

And Donald Findlater, deputy director of child protection charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, and who used to run a treatment service for sex offenders, said: "I think it is wrong to believe you can cure a sex offender. You can't. You can manage the problem and psychological treatment has been shown to do that.

"But you can't say someone is free of the problem and not a risk at all of re-offending”.

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