Assessing the Effectiveness of a Specialized, Field-Based Treatment Program for Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses in an Australian Jurisdiction

James M Ogilvie; Nadine McKillop; Jesse Cale; Troy Allard; John Rynne; Stephen Walkley Smallbone

doi:10.1177/0306624X231219216

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Assessing the Effectiveness of a Specialized, Field-Based Treatment Program for Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses in an Australian Jurisdiction

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Specialized, Field-Based Treatment Program for Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses in an Australian Jurisdiction

James M Ogilvie, Nadine McKillop, Jesse Cale, Troy Allard, John Rynne and Stephen Walkley Smallbone

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol.68(15), pp.1540-1557

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X231219216

PMCID: PMC11459863

PMID: 38146816

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

Crime and social justice

Correctional theory, offender treatment and rehabilitation

Criminal justice

Rehabilitation and correctional services

sexual offending

treatment

juveniles

reoffending

evaluation

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

This study provides an evaluation of recidivism outcomes for a specialized, field-based treatment program for youth who perpetrate sexual offenses in an Australian jurisdiction. Using survival analyses, recidivism outcomes for the treatment group (n = 200), who were followed for an average of 5.07 years (SD = 3.13), were contrasted with a sample of sexually offending youth who were either referred but not accepted or not referred to the program (n = 295). Rates of sexual recidivism were low and not significantly different between the groups (9.5% for treated and 10.8% for untreated). Unadjusted Cox regression results indicated that the treated group were less likely to violently recidivate compared to the untreated group (HR = 1.41, 95% CI [1.01, 1.96]), but this effect became nonsignificant when controlling for offense history covariates (HR = 1.22, 95% CI [0.87, 1.72]). Both groups exhibited high rates of nonsexual offending during the follow-up period, and treatment factors including clinician-rated success, were found to be associated with a lower frequency of reoffending after treatment. Findings highlight important considerations for both practice and research. First, findings suggest the need for specialized programs to ensure factors associated with general recidivism are also addressed in treatment; second, findings reinforce potential utility for clinician-rated and structured assessments to inform treatment planning and outcomes. Finally, the findings raise the importance of appropriate comparison groups when designing evaluation studies, to accurately inform policy and practice.

Details

Title: Assessing the Effectiveness of a Specialized, Field-Based Treatment Program for Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses in an Australian Jurisdiction
Authors: James M Ogilvie (Corresponding Author) - Griffith University
Nadine McKillop (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Jesse Cale (Author) - Griffith University
Troy Allard (Author) - Griffith University
John Rynne (Author) - Griffith University
Stephen Walkley Smallbone (Author) - Griffith University
Publication details: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol.68(15), pp.1540-1557
Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X231219216
ISSN: 1552-6933
PMID: 38146816; PMC11459863
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Data Availability: The data for the study are held by the Griffith Youth Forensic Service (GYFS) at Griffith University. Due to privacy, clinical sensitivity, and ethical considerations, the data cannot be shared without direct approval from GYFS University and the QPS. Any researcher interested in accessing the data can contact GYFS (gyfs@griffith.edu.au).
Grant note: This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Program (Project Number DP110102126)
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society; Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99990598602621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Criminology & Penology; Psychology, Applied

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