Does the adapted sex offender treatment programme reduce cognitive distortions? A meta-analysis

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour,Volume 9, Issue 1, Page 9-21, March 2018. Purpose For the 3.8 per cent of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) who have offended sexually, the main form of treatment is the group-based, cognitive-behavioural, adapted sex offender treatment programme (ASOTP) that focusses on challenging cognitive distortions condoning sex offending. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of how effective the ASOTP is at reducing ID sex offenders ’ cognitive distortions. Design/methodology/approach Three databases were searched systematically: PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Web of Science. Six studies met the inclusion criteria, yielding 118 participants. Using a random-effects model, effect sizes were calculated using pre- and post-treatment sco res on a measure of cognitive distortions. The standardised mean difference (SMD) was 1.77 (95 per cent CI: 1.06, 2.46), which was statistically significant (p<0.001) and “large”. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that this SMD was robust, and a check for publication bias revealed that it was unlikely that the “file drawer problem” confounded the meta-analysis. Findings These results indicated that the ASOTP can significantly reduce ID sex offenders’ cogn itive distortions, regardless of treatment length, IQ level, language abilities, or offence type. Consistent with earlier reports, longer treatment resulted in the greatest reductions: the optimum treatment len...
Source: Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour - Category: Criminology Source Type: research