EXAMINATION OF TREATMENT COMPLETION AND PREDICTED OUTCOME AMONG INCARCERATED SEX OFFENDERS

This article addresses the prediction of treatment completion and outc ome of 114 adult sex offenders using variables found to predict treatm ent outcome in outpatient sex offender programs. The variables of read ing ability, marital status, age, presence of antisocial personality d isorder, offense and victim discrimination, and instant offense were u sed. Three outcomes of treatment were assessed: (1) those who were rej ected from the program during the evaluation phase; (2) those who drop ped out of treatment; and (3) those who successfully completed the pro gram. Results indicated that only reading ability and marital status w ere predictive of treatment outcome, with those with high reading abil ity and married having the best outcome. Failure of the other variable s to differentiate between groups is attributed to differences in psyc hopathology between incarcerated and outpatient sex offenders and diff erences in structure between programs.