Inleiding en context
Maandagmorgen 29 juni 2020. Ik kom net terug van een leuk weekeinde in Heerenveen bij de zus van mijn vrouw en leuke zwager. Giethoorn, zwemmen in het Tjeukemeer, eten in Heerenveen en terug naar Leiden. Heerlijk om weer te genieten van Nederland. Ik heb geen puf om een inhoudelijke tekst te maken. Dat komt morgen weer. Maar om de spirit er in te houden toch een mooi overzicht over behandelmethoden bij seksuele delinquenten en de effecten daarvan. Het gaat om bijgesloten systematische metastudie: Sexual offender treatment for reducing recidivism among convicted sex offenders: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Kennis moet gedeeld worden, ook op maandagochtend.
Bron
Schmucker, Martin & Friedrich Lösel (2017). Sexual offender treatment for reducing recidivism among convicted sex offenders: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Campbell Systematic Reviews, Vol.13, no. 1, pp. 1-75. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.4073/csr.2017.8
Samenvatting
Sexual offender treatment programs to reduce reoffending have been implemented in many countries as part of a strategy in managing this offender group. However, there are still controversies regarding their effectiveness.
This review integrates findings from six experimental and 21 quasi‐experimental studies that compare groups of treated sexual offenders with equivalent control groups. These studies tested whether treated sexual offenders differed from the control groups in sexual and other reoffending.
Included studies compare official recidivism rates of treated sexual offenders with a comparable group of sexual offenders that have not been subjected to the respective treatment. Quasi‐experimental studies were included only if they applied sound matching procedures, where the incidental assignment would not introduce bias, or where they were statistically controlled for potential biases. The treatment had to explicitly aim at reducing recidivism rates.
The review summarizes 27 studies containing 29 eligible comparisons of a treated group and a control group, containing data for 4,939 treated and 5,448 untreated sexual offenders. The studies come from seven different countries, but more than half of the studies have been carried out in North America. All eligible comparisons evaluated psychosocial treatment (mainly cognitive behavioral programs). No studies on pharmacological/hormonal treatment were found which meet the inclusion criteria.
On average, there is a significant reduction in recidivism rates in the treated groups. The odds to sexually reoffend were 1.41 lower for treated compared to control groups. This equals a sexual recidivism rate of 10.1 percent for treated offenders compared to 13.7 percent without treatment. The mean rates for general recidivism were higher, but showed a similar reduction of roughly a quarter due to treatment.
The results from the individual studies were very heterogeneous, that is individual study features had a strong impact on the outcomes. Methodological quality did not significantly influence effect sizes.
Cognitive‐behavioral as well as studies with small samples, medium to high risk offenders, more individualized treatment, and good descriptive validity revealed better effects. There was no significant difference between various settings. We found significant effects for treatment in the community and in forensic hospitals, but there is not yet sufficient evidence to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of sex offender treatment in prisons.
Afsluitend
Niet alleen veelbelovend, maar effectief dus gezien de uitkomsten van de 27 studies. Een significante reductie van recidive bij seksuele delinquenten. Morgen weer verder met dan een meer informatieve ´kennisparel´ in de mail. Nu naar bed.