J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2007 Nov;46(6):579-586.

Effect of Sex Offenders Treatment Programme on Cognitive and Emotional Characteristics of Mentally Ill Sex-Offenders

• Kim JH
• Choi SS
• Rhee MS
• Kim SB
• Joung JS
• Kim EH
• Lyu MK

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was investigated to prove the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program in mentally ill sex offenders and to be used as basic data for development of optimized treatment program for mentally ill sex offenders.
METHODS
Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program was carried out over 10 weeks for 30 mentally ill sex offenders. With Interpersonal Responsiveness Index (IRI), UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS), Coping Using Sex Inventory (CUSI) and Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), the effectiveness of the treatment programme was evaluated. The data was analyzed with paired t-test.
RESULTS
The results with 23 subjects showed no significant score changes after treatment program in IRI and UCLALS. However, there was a statistically significant improvement in the scores of CUSI and RMAS.
CONCLUSION
Despite several limitations, this study showed significant effects of Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program on mentally-ill sex offenders. Therefore, treatment focused on the changes of cognitive and emotional characteristics of sex offenders along with the treatment for main psychiatric illness should be provided for mentally ill sex offenders to prevent recidivism. More studies to develope optimized treatment programme for mentally ill sex offenders are needed in the future.

Keyword

Sex offender; Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program; Rape myth coping with sex; Mentally ill; Recidivism

MeSH Terms

Criminals*
Humans
Loneliness
Mentally Ill Persons*
Rape