Therapeutic change in ID sex offenders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Therapeutic change in males with an intellectual disability who have completed a sex offender treatment programme.
IRAS ID
181270
Contact name
Nikkita Osiadacz
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Salomons Centre for Applied Psychology
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 25 days
Research summary
Treatments for sex offenders with an intellectual disability (ID) have been adapted from those programmes used in the general sex offender population. The Tarentfort centre is a secure hospital for individuals with ID who may also have a diagnosed mental disorder. The centre uses a sex offender treatment programme (SOTP) that are based on a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approach, and incorporate aspects of the Good Lives Model (GLM; Ward & Brown, 2004) which has been identified as important in the treatment of sex offenders with ID (Haaven, Little, & Petre-Miller, 1990).
Although there is ample research looking at the effectiveness of sex offender treatment programmes in the general sex offender population, and many theories have tried to explain sex offending behaviour, there is limited research with individuals with ID. Many of the studies published that have examined the effectiveness of SOTP's in an ID population have focused on reducing offending (Rose, Jenkins, & Felce, 2002; Heaton & Murphy, 2013). There is however a gap in the literature that explores the process through which change occurs or indeed does not occur.
This study aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the change processes in individuals with an ID that have completed a SOTP, by interviewing males from the Tarentfort Centre who have completed this treatment programme. The results of this study will inform our understanding of which components of the programme and other factors that are key in the process of change. Treatments may need adaptation for the ID population based on the findings to focus on the areas that are important in the change process.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0362
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion