Willingness, Confidence, and Knowledge to Work with Adolescent Sex Offenders: An Evaluation of Training Workshops

Abstract

Increasing attention is being paid to best practice in mental health sciences. One crucial aspect of this is the extent to which the mental health workforce has the knowledge and skills to implement state-of-the-art interventions. Recently, evidence has indicated that sexual offending often begins in adolescence, can be a persistent disorder when left untreated, and is associated with a range of other mental health problems in the perpetrator and subsequently in victims. A small number of evaluations of treatment programs are appearing but little work has appeared addressing the issue of how the workforce is equipped, or can be trained, to work with this challenging population. In this paper we present data on the effects of training on knowledge, skills, confidence, and willingness, to work with this client group. Trainees were 107 mental health workers who attended training workshops provided throughout Queensland, Australia by the Griffith Adolescent Forensic Assessment and Treatment Centre. Results showed that the measures developed for assessing training effects were change sensitive and valid. Training was associated with increases in self-rated skills, confidence, knowledge, and willingness to work with this population, and these changes were maintained for the follow-up sample.

Improving therapeutic engagement with adolescent sexual offenders

“…Capacity building efforts were focused specifically on the provision of formal training programs (see Dadds, Smallbone, Nisbet, & Dombrowski, 2003) and, particularly when collaborative partners were unable to attend training workshops due to their remote locations, on case consultation, professional supervision, opportunities to observe GYFS clinicians, and the provision of written resources.…”

Treatment with youth who have committed sexual offences: Extending the reach of systemic interventions through collaborative partnerships

“…''; and ''At present, how willing are you to work with adolescents who sexually offend?''. Dadds et al (2003) reported a Cronbach's alpha of .84 for the eight-item scale, indicating good scale reliability. Dadds et al also reported that scores varied according to the qualifications and experience of trainees, indicating external validity.…”

“…The GYFS Collaborative Partner Questionnaire (GCPQ) was used to survey participants. The GCPQ consists of the GYFS (formerly GAFATC) Skills Questionnaire (GSQ) (Dadds et al, 2003), together with additional items assessing obstacles and benefits associated with the collaborative model. The GSQ was originally designed for the purposes of evaluating GYFS training outcomes, and specifically to assess professional workers' self-rated knowledge, skills, and confidence to work with youth who have committed sexual offences.…”

“…GYFS provides training workshops for practitioners and others involved in working with young people who have committed sexual offences, including advanced-level training for professionals and paraprofessionals who may later become collaborative partners with GYFS cases. In an earlier evaluation, this training was found to be associated with increases in self-rated skills, confidence, knowledge, and willingness to work with youth who had committed sexual offences, and these improvements were maintained at 3-month follow-up (Dadds, Smallbone, Nisbet, & Dombrowski, 2003). Collaborative partners, however, are not always able to attend these training workshops in a timely manner (due to limits on the availability of workshops and the remote locations in which some partners are based).…”

The highs and lows of working with sexual offenders: A New Zealand perspective

“…Treatment efficacy relies not only upon empirically validated models of best practice, but is also influenced by the availability of professionals with the knowledge, specialist skills and willingness to implement those models (Dadds, Smallbone, Nisbet & Dombrowski, 2003). In contrast to the abundant data on the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders, research investigating the impact of treating this population on clinicians is significantly one-sided.…”