Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

Abstract

This article reports a test of multisystemic predictors of therapeutic engagement (TE) with adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs), and an evaluation of clinical efforts to improve TE with this client group. First, clinicians rated their TE with 105 Australian court-referred male ASOs (M = 15.53 years; SD = 1.30 years), who participated in treatment between 2001 and 2005. For this cohort, correlation analysis showed impulsivity/antisociality, negative peer relationships, and indigenous race to be associated with poorer TE. Multiple regression analysis identified impulsivity/antisociality and indigenous race as significant unique predictors. Clinical efforts subsequently focused on improving TE, particularly with higher-antisocial youth and with indigenous youth and their families. Clinicians then rated TE with a second, independent cohort of 54 court-referred male ASOs (M = 15.44 years; SD = 1.22 years), who participated in the modified treatment between 2006 and 2009. A two-way ANCOVA, controlling for impulsivity/antisociality, indicated significant improvements in TE for both indigenous and non-indigenous ASOs. Despite these general improvements, indigenous ASOs remained comparatively less engaged than their non-indigenous counterparts.

Prevention-enhancing interactions: a Critical Interpretive Synthesis of the evidence about children who sexually abuse other children

“…The prevention agenda relating to sexual abuse perpetrated by children could be enhanced by taking advantage of other interactions among domains, in the way that Smallbone et al . (, , ) have achieved with the causes and interventions domains. One such potent interaction relates to the characteristics domain and the communications domain.…”

“…As mentioned, Smallbone et al . () are doing significant work in this area. However, because secondary prevention relies so heavily on evidence from the causes domain, it is important that the causes domain accounts for the fact that most children who sexually abuse are boys.…”

“…Smallbone et al . 's (, , ) crime prevention work is positioned at the intersection of the causes and interventions domains, along with the secondary prevention level of the public health model of prevention. Carmody's (, ) work on education and sexual ethics operates at the intersection between the causes and communications domains, along with the primary prevention level of the public health model of prevention.…”

Increasing Self-Control

“…High treatment dropout rates have been reported specifically with juvenile sex offenders (Hunter & Figueredo, 1999;Kraemer, Salisbury & Spielman 1998;Seabloom, Seabloom, Seabloom, Barron & Hendrickson 2003), with studies showing impulsivity and general antisocial behavior problems to be associated with higher dropout rates in this population (Edwards, Beech, Bishopp, Erikson, Friendship, et al, 2005;Kraemer et al, 1998). Smallbone, Crissman, and Rayment-McHugh (2009) reported increased therapeutic engagement (TE) for high-antisocial/impulsive juvenile sex offenders after modifying their program to shift the responsibility for TE away from the youth offender and on to the practitioners themselves. Smallbone, Crissman, and Rayment-McHugh (2009) reported increased therapeutic engagement (TE) for high-antisocial/impulsive juvenile sex offenders after modifying their program to shift the responsibility for TE away from the youth offender and on to the practitioners themselves.…”

Therapeutic Alliance with Juvenile Sexual Offenders: The Effects of Trauma Symptoms and Attachment Functioning

“…However, scholarship in this area has largely ignored the effects of client-level factors. Although some have explored the influence of antisocial traits, negative peer relationships, and indigenous races on therapeutic engagement (Smallbone, Crissman, Rayment-McHugh, 2009), many have yet to specifically investigate the impact of such client-level factors on the therapeutic alliance among youthful sexual offenders. Accordingly, while client and therapist factors vary significantly as a function of presenting issues and treatment environment, further research may be able to acutely identify client-level factors influencing strong alliances (Horvath & Luborsky, 1993) specific to context and population.…”