Treating Sex Offenders:
An Introduction to Sex Offender Treatment Programmes
by Sarah Brown
Portland, OR: Willan Publishing, 2005
At the beginning of her book, Sarah Brown explains that her work was based almost entirely on the literature. This book is, however, more than just a literature review. The author has not only taken great pains to review all of the relevant literature in the field of sex offender treatment, but also – like any good researcher - points out its shortcomings.
In her introduction, Brown shows good recognition of the fact that, both in definition and reporting, sexual offending has not been accurately portrayed. Reporting is scant, and the definition of a sexual offense often differs both between and within jurisdictions. Brown does an excellent job of elucidating this point, offering contradictory research findings regarding the numbers of female offenders, number of acts per person, and even the number of sexual offenders living in our society. If nothing else, we are clued into the notion that any research on sex offending stands on shaky ground and relies on official statistics that may be wholly inaccurate.
One major contribution of the book is the discussion of the history of treatment, the methods presently in use, and the theoretical perspectives behind the treatment being utilized. Brown does a solid job of separating out behavioral and cognitive-behavioral programs, offering a good link to all rehabilitation options, and focusing on both offense-specific and non-specific goals. This is an important factor, if for no other reason than to help the reader realize that treatment impacts more than simply the sexual behavior of the offender. Brown performs a thorough evaluation of the literature to find the relevant goals offered in the literature thus far.
If this book has any shortcomings, it is in the discussion of program evaluation. Brown argues that the “methodological design best able to demonstrate identified outcomes” (p.153) is experimental design. While many would not argue the validity of this research design, research conducted with sex offenders may not be best served through experimental design. There is no question that we need to determine whether treatment works and who it works for, but it is entirely possible that this methodological design does not entirely realize this goal. We cannot evaluate the program without evaluating the offender, and utilizing qualitative research may allow researchers a better grasp of the sex offenders being served by these programs.
The vast majority of the research reviewed is quantitative in nature, leading to the conclusion that this may be the only way to address the issues of evaluation properly. A nice addition would be the consideration of a qualitative piece, at least acknowledging that it could help get to the generic evaluation Although Brown states that it is difficult to describe all of the details that may impact program efficiency, one effective way to get insight into the efficiency of any program is to interview the individuals in the program itself.
Overall, this is a thorough review of the research to date. This book serves as an excellent resource for anyone in the field of sexual offending.
PATRICK N. McGRAIN
DeSales University |
