I am looking at the assessment and treatment of female sex offenders, but I am struggling to find studies that have applied treatments/programmes with female sex offenders. The only literature I can find regarding treatment of female sex offenders just talks about suggestions for future treatment, rather than following through with the research.
Hi Hannah, I haven't seen any detailed descriptions of treatment programs for women who have sexually offended, and no outcome studies either.
Strictly from a criminal justice perspective, focusing on the likelihood of sexual recidivism, I would question whether many women who have sexually offended require sex offender treatment given the already very low recidivism rates that have been observed (Cortoni et al., 2010)
Cortoni, F., Hanson, R. K., & Coache, M. È. (2010). The recidivism rates of female sexual offenders are low: A meta-analysis. Sexual Abuse, 22(4), 387-401.
This doesn't mean they might not require general offender treatment (e.g., substance misuse, anger self-regulation) or treatment to address other mental health problems, but the Risk Principle for effective correctional rehabilitation would lead me to wonder if sex offender treatment would be a wise investment of resources (esp with the risk that it could make things worse, always a possibility until we know what effects are from evaluation).
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