“Quality of Life” as Perceived by Sex Offenders on Early Release in a Halfway House

Quality of life of violent and sexual offenders in community-based forensic psychiatric treatment

“…Sexual offenders were also more satisfied with a number of other domains, such as general and mental health. Compared to the findings of Williams (2003), the sexual offenders in our study were more satisfied with their living arrangements, leisure time, social relationships, and finances. The sexual offenders in Williams' study resided in a halfway house, and might therefore have been more limited in their autonomy with regard to leisure time and social relationships, and thus have been less satisfied with their living arrangements.…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated significant differences in subjective well-being between male and female psychiatric patients (Slade et al, 2004;Van Nieuwenhuizen, 1998), with men reporting a higher QoL. Furthermore, the difference between forensic psychiatric patients and other groups could be influenced by living circumstances (see Draine & Solomon, 1992;Williams, 2003): patients living in non-independent housing display lower levels of subjective well-being than patients living in independent circumstances (Chung et al, 1998).…”

“…This difference could be explained by living arrangements, because patients living at home or in hostels tended to have similar scores to the general population. Williams (2003) quantitatively and qualitatively explored the QoL of 23 male sex offenders participating in sex offender treatment in a community correctional setting, or 'halfway house', as part of their parole or probation agreements. There was no control group.…”

Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of a Solution-Focused Training Program

“…The Solution-Focused Approach (SFA), based on present focus, nonexpert providers, positive orientation, and emphasis on strengths and solutions rather than problems and dysfunction, seems to be able to provide practical advantages for correctional officers working with offenders (Corcoran, 1997). Previous studies reported the use of SFA in an intervention for juvenile offenders (Corcoran, 1997), sex offenders (Williams, 2003), incarcerated fathers (Lange, 2001) and parents (Springer, Lynch, & Rubin, 2004), and domestic violence offenders (Lee, Uken, & Sebold, 2004 ;Milner & Singleton, 2008). Although previous research allows certain conjectures, correctional officers' point of view in using SFA is mostly absent.…”

Sexual Offenders' Perceptions of Correctional Therapy: What Can We Learn?

“…However, Ward and Stewart (2003) have shown that the risk-need model may be incorporated into a broader framework that considers the personal quality of life of each offender. Such an approach may be more effective at engaging offenders in the treatment process, and may lead to sustained offender motivation for positive behavioral change (see Williams, 2003;Williams & Strean, 2002). An important point here is that in simply focusing on collections of risk factors rather than the individual as a whole, professionals may be objectifying their clients and may easily project their own fears into the treatment process, leading to standardized and perhaps overly punitive programs (Williams & Hanley, in press).…”