The RTCSOTP is located in Ontario, Canada. This is an inpatient program offering individual and group therapy to offenders who have indulged themselves in sexual offences and who have been let out from prison located in Ontario, Canada (“Program,” n.d.). This is a post-release program meant to treat people who are determined to be in high jeopardy of sexual recidivism and those who need critical treatment. In essence, this program was started in 1973 and operates up to date, and is deemed to follow a comprehensive cognitive-behaviour relapse prevention strategy (“Program,” n.d.). This program is based on cognitive behavioural therapy that is empirically aimed at helping sex offenders in achieving and maintaining and ensuring that they abstain from offending. This paper, therefore, discusses the RTCSOTP treatment program and as well assesses its effectiveness of the treatment program.
Essentially, the RTCSOTP program is a psychotherapy treatment program that is based on a comprehensive relapse-prevention strategy, cognitive-behavioural, that is inpatient. The treatment services entail both group and individual therapy that takes a period of three to four months cycles (“Program,” n.d.). The treatment program entails, sex education, training focused on enhancing heterosocial skills, confidence as well as temper control. Other treatment services offered are; aversion therapy, role play, covert sensitization, confrontation, supportive therapy as well as biofeedback (“Program,” n.d.). Currently, the program introduced empathy-training skills as well as relapse-prevention abilities. The program is undertaken by nurses together with psychotherapists who center on sexual offenses on group and also individual therapies.
The program is made up of two main modules. The first module is actually self-management which entails three assignments including; autobiography, self-management plan as well as offense chain (“Program,” n.d.). Additionally, the module has two more components which are; emotional management as well as cognitive distortion. The second module emphasizes on social skills as well as depends on role plays for developing and practicing skills being taught.
To determine the effectiveness of this program, a matched group quasi-experimental research will need to be undertaken to facilitate the evaluation of the effectiveness of this post-release group-based and individual therapy treatment offenders who committed sexual offense as well as facing higher risks of committing sexual recidivism (“Program,” n.d.). To confirm the effectiveness of the program, it should be ensured that the RTC participants qualify for the study. The group should encompass people at high chances of committing sexual recidivism demarcated with a score of PCL-R or more than 25 (“Program,” n.d.). The group undergoing the treatment should be matched with the comparing group. The probable comparison group participants who underwent a certain sex offender intervention program institutionally or a community-based one are admissible to be included in the sample. The group under the intervention obtains the inpatient sex offender intervention program from the community.
Evidently, based on the quasi-experimental study undertaken, the treatment group was made up of sixty four people who were viewed to be facing a higher risk of committing sexual recidivism and actually were having a PCL-R score. On the other hand the comparison group consisted of fifty five people having a score of twenty five or greater on PCL-R (“Program,” n.d.). The two groups had some similarities on their corresponding variables of overall PCL-R score, violent convictions mean number, index offense ages and also social convicts mean number. In the intervention group, 47.1% were categorized as rapists while 27.8% were categorized as extra familial offenders whereas 28% were categorized as intrafamilial offenders (“Program,” n.d.). Literally the intervention group possess an average of 2.46 percent of sexual convictions with 1.27 percent violent convictions. The mean age at commiting sexual offense was approximately 32 years. 43.7% of the comparison group were categorized as rapists, whereas 29 % were categorized as extrafamilial offenders while 27.2% were categorized as intrafamilial offenders (“Program,” n.d.).
Actually there is no substantial differences between the treatment group and the control group evident matching variables. The comparing group was found to have an average of 2.90% sexual convictions as well as 1.28% violent convictions (“Program,” n.d.). The average age at offense was determined to be 31.1 years. Nonetheless, the study gave no details regarding gender nor the race if the research participants. The study however utilized the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Finger Print Services (RCMP FPS) details in the collection of data regarding recidivism. The offenses were encoded on the basis of Canadian Criminal Code categorization (“Program,” n.d.). The RCMP FPS information is regarded on any convictions recorded in Canada though not restrained to any specific part of the country. Moreover, the use proportional analyses was exploited in the assessment of recidivism among the groups. Therefore, the Wilcoxon survival analyses were undertaken with the aim of controlling the duration period of the follow-up which was literally 9.3 years for the intervention group whereas it was 11.1 years for the comparing group (“Program,” n.d.).
When it comes to effectiveness of the treatment program, based on the evidence obtained from the study, it was determined that the treatment program provided by RTCSOTP program is not effective. This is because evidence from the study showed that there was no variance in sexual recidivism rates between the treatment group and comparison group (“Program,” n.d.). This indicates that the RTCSOTP treatment is not effective at all thus making it less important and unnecessary. RTCSOTP’s objectives was aimed at helping sex offenders in achieving and maintaining and ensuring that they abstain from offending. This treatment facility has failed to meet this object and has ended up being ineffective (“Program,” n.d.). Making offenders released from prison to attend sexual recidivism treatment is useless since it is ineffective thus will not reduce the rate of sexual recidivism. The rate of cases of sexual recidivism will not reduce but rather remain constant since imprisonment and the RTCSOTP treatment program are not effective in corrective an individual’s sexual recidivism.
To sum up, RTCSOTP treatment program is actually a good program that was established to help the sexual offenders of Canada especially those being released from Ontario prison to treat and overcome their sexual recidivism. In fact, the program has a well set objective that it aims at meeting it, which is helping sex offenders in achieving and maintaining and ensuring that they abstain from offending. Unfortunately, this program has failed to meet its objective and has been rendered ineffective. Evidence from the study showing that there was no variance in sexual recidivism rates between the treatment group and comparison group prove that RTCSOTP treatment program is ineffective. It is therefore important this program should be reviewed and take into consideration issues that resulted to it being ineffective. To enhance safety of the general public of Ontario, RTCSOTP should be reviewed and restructured to ensure that it is effective in treating and reducing the rate of sexual recidivism.