RT Article
T1 Assessing reconviction, reoffending and recidivism in a sample of UK sexual offenders
JF Legal and criminological psychology
VO 8
IS 2
SP 207
OP 215
A1 Falshaw, Louise
A1 Bates, Andrew
A1 Patel, Vaneeta
A1 Corbett, Carmen
A1 Friendship, Caroline
A2 Bates, Andrew
A2 Patel, Vaneeta
A2 Corbett, Carmen
A2 Friendship, Caroline
LA English
YR 2003
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1847409377
AB Purpose. The rate of sexual reconviction for sexual offenders is known to be low. Sexual reconviction, however, is currently the most commonly used outcome measure in sex offender treatment evaluation studies. It is expected that sex offender treatment programmes will reduce the likelihood of reconviction amongst participants. A low base rate of sexual reconviction means that any reduction in reconviction (which could be attributed to treatment) will be small and unlikely to be statistically significant. This study aimed to assess other offence-related outcomes for sexual offenders, in addition to reconviction. Methods. The sample comprised 173 sexual offenders who had completed a community sex offender treatment programme. Follow-up information was collected forthe sample from programme files containing multi-agency information. Official reconviction rates were also calculated using both Home Office and police data. Results. Collecting evidence of any offence-related sexual behaviour during this study multiplied the sample's sexual reconviction rate by a factor of 5.3. Conclusions. The results show that broadening the outcome measure under observation indicates a higher level of offence-related sexual behaviour displayed by sexual offenders than reflected by reconviction data. These results have implications for the outcomes measured in treatment evaluation research for sexual offenders.
DO 10.1348/135532503322362979