Child sexual abuse in the United States is a serious problem that crosses cultural, ethnic, and socio- economic boundaries. While previously considered a criminal justice issue, child sexual abuse is beginning to be identified as a public health concern, given that such abuse leads to increases in the rates of health and social problems in its victims. While advocates are calling for a focus on perpetrators of sex abuse, the body of research supporting the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions to prevent sexual reoffending is limited. This proposed expert conference is designed to bring together an international group of experts to begin the process of developing and implementing a rigorous collaborative outcome study of psychotherapeutic treatment of adult males who have committed child sexual abuse and other sexual violence. This grant will support a conference hosted by the University of Montreal, and jointly supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada designed to develop consensus on the components of a potentially effective treatment program, the responsivity factors that must be considered during planning, implementation, and assessment of a potentially effective intervention and the contextual factors that could influence the outcomes of an intervention. Sixteen presenters will be invited to make 45 minute presentations, which are divided into three sessions: Components, Responsivity Factors, and Context. Each session will also include a discussant, who will summarize the findings and provide the foundation for a discussion by all participants. A final half-day will be devoted to arriving at final consensus on the components of a treatment program to be pilot tested in a subsequent grant application. In addition to the components, participants will discuss and reach consensus on important responsivity factors and the necessary contextual factors to consider in designing the project and to be measured to account for mediators, moderators, and contaminating factors. This project will provide an important first step in advancing the prevention of child sexual abuse and other forms of sexual violence, important public health challenges that can only be adequately addressed with more rigorous research on interventions for those who perpetrate or could potentially perpetrate such abuse and violence. Current knowledge is inadequate and current prevention programs, that focus on potential victims and bystanders are also inadequate because they do not focus on the perpetrators of the problem.
This proposed expert conference will provide consensus on empirically supported components of a potentially effective treatment program to prevent sexual reoffending in men who have committed sexual crimes. The conference will further contribute to the design of a rigorous outcome study by further agreeing upon necessary mediating, moderating, and contaminating factors to consider and include in the program and research design. Further, the presentations for these international experts will be disseminated through multiple vehicles, including live streaming, on-line access, and an edited book.
