Psychological assessment, treatment, and outcome with sex offenders

The frequency and impact of sexual offenses have led to the recent enactmen t of sexual "predator" laws. Such laws are intended to reduce sexual violen ce through treatment and involuntary confinement. Sixty years ago, similar laws identifying "sexual psychopaths" were enacted and, in many states, eve ntually repealed for multiple reasons; among those reasons was an inability to demonstrate that treatment had any significant impact on recidivism. Th at inability forced us to reexamine, among other issues, the population(s) which undergo treatment, the outcomes that are used to measure treatment ef fectiveness, and the processes that constitute treatment itself. Those issu es are considered in this paper through a review of treatment programs base d on psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive-behavioral theories. Although the evidence is sparse, it is fair to conclude that the latter have been f ound to be effective. We call for dynamic measures, effective treatments, a nd the resources necessary for both developments. Copyright (C) 2000 John W iley & Sons, Ltd.