This is a controlled group-outcome study of the differential effectiveness of two methods of community-based treatment for child molesters. One treatment, Experimental 1, is a state of the art approach which treats deviant sexual arousal with behavior therapy (BT), deviant thinking with rational-emotive therapy (RET), and reoffense tendencies with relapse prevention (RP), a self- management program. The second, Experimental 2, is a more conventional treatment resembling contemporary outpatient sex offender programs. Deviant cognitions, sexual misbehavior, social skills deficits, unassertiveness, etc. are treated by RET alone and clients receive a more conventional follow-up based on the RET model. The specific issues under test are: (1) compare the differential effectiveness of RET/BT with RET alone, (2) compare the differential effectiveness of long-term RP with a more conventional follow-up. (3) test the clinical usefulness of an assessment battery of various group-outcome measures, and (4) test the clinical utility of psychophysiological assessment of sexual arousal. Data following one year of treatment indicate that (1) behavior therapy does not necessarily make a unique contribution to a multi- component treatment package. (2) goal attainment scores and other therapist question naires successfully measured treatment outcome, (3) two client self-report inventories classified offenders into subgroups, and (4) sexual arousal assessment accurately classified pedophiles, indicated their age and sex preferences, and provided an index of treatment progress. Continuation funding is requested to (1) evaluate the long-term effects of behavior therapy, (2) determine the differential effectiveness of physiological assessment vs simpler and cheaper self-report procedures, and (3) systematically evaluate the efficacy of RP treatment in follow-up periods of 1-5 years.
| Hall, K J; Osborn, C A (1994) The conduct of socially sensitive research: sex offenders as participants. Crim Justice Behav 21:325-40 |
