Psychotherapies Benefit Sex Criminals

Researchers have said that while psychological treatments do not cure sex criminals, they may help reduce the number of times they re-offend .

While the types of psychological therapies vary according to the kind stipulated during sentencing, sex offenders who complete treatment programs tend to re-offend less often and less seriously.

As Belinda Brooks-Gordon, a psychologist at the University of London, in said in the British Medical Journal. 'Sexual offending, like many medical conditions, cannot be cured,'

After reviewing 34 studies of the effectiveness of different types of treatments such as behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, drug therapy and psychotherapy she and criminologist Charlotte Bilby found that behavioral therapies did appear to have a positive effect for a short term but further research was needed to prove its effectiveness over longer time periods.

It was also found that offenders who did not complete the treatment were more likely to repeat their crimes.

Brooks-Gordon said, ‘We definitely need more attention to good ... qualitative studies,’

She added that a better understanding of which treatments are either controlling or moderating the offender's behavior could help to focus resources on the therapies that are most effective.