Striving for a good life : the good lives model applied to released child molesters

The good lives model (GLM) is a strengths-based approach to offender rehabilitation in which treatment aims to equip offenders with the skills and resources necessary to satisfy primary goods, or basic human values, in personally meaningful and socially acceptable ways. The aim of the present research was to explore the practical utility of the GLM with a sample of released child molesters, and investigate the relationship between primary goods attainment and overall re-entry conditions (in terms of accommodation, social support and employment). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 child molesters at one, three and six months following their release from prison. As expected, participants endorsed the majority of GLM primary goods with high importance, and positive re-entry experiences were associated with increased goods attainment. Implications for clinicians, policy makers and society as a whole are discussed.

The quality of community reintegration planning for child molesters : effects on sexual recidivism

Research on the causal factors underlying sex offender recidivism has not considered the success or failure of the reintegration process by which the offender rejoins the community after prison. The authors developed a coding protocol to measure the quality and comprehensiveness of reintegration planning for sex offenders. The protocol was retrospectively applied to groups of recidivists and nonrecidivists who were matched on static risk level and follow-up time. The protocol demonstrated adequate reliability. Compared to nonrecidivists, recidivists had significantly lower scores relating to accommodation, employment, and the Good Lives Model secondary goods, as well as lower total reintegration plan scores. ANCOVAs showed that when IQ and level of sexual deviance were controlled for, accommodation (a place to live) was significantly related to sexual recidivism and the Good Lives Model—secondary goods was significantly related to any recidivism. These results suggest that poor reintegration planning may be a risk factor for recidivism.

Improving the legal aspects of police interviewing of suspects

The purpose of this paper is to provide some guidance to police interviewers and trainers in relation to improving the legal aspects of police questioning of suspects. The paper is written with reference to Victorian legislation. Sixteen professionals (defence barristers, academics, prosecutors, and detectives), all with extensive knowledge of the law and experience evaluating police interviews with suspects, took part in individual indepth interviews (M ¼ 100 minutes). The aim of the interviews was to discuss the limitations of police interviews with suspects and to provide exemplars of concerns from a set of de-identified transcripts that had been provided to the professionals prior to their interviews with us. Overall, four key limitations were raised: (a) inadequate particularisation of offences, (b) inappropriate phrasing of questions, (c) poor introduction of allegations, and (d) questions that unfairly ask the suspect to comment on the victim’s perspective. These concerns and their practical implications are discussed.

Evolutionary psychology and the rehabilitation of offenders : constraints and consequences

The mainstream view in criminology and correctional psychology is that evolutionary perspectives have little to offer researchers or practitioners and may in fact lead to overly reductionist and crude responses to the complex issue of crime and its consequences. However, in our view all the major evolutionary approaches to the explanation of human behavior have something of value to contribute, with niche construction providing a particularly useful lens upon crime and its management. In this paper we analyze the concept of rehabilitation and describe the key features of effective rehabilitation. We argue that niche construction is responsive to the cognitive versatility and behavioral flexibility of human beings and can also accommodate the important role of social and cultural scaffolding in the rehabilitation process.

Police officers' perceptions of interviewing offenders on sex offender registries

Police interviews with offenders form an important component of the sex offender registry monitoring process. This study provides an analysis of police professionals’ perceptions of the benefits and process of interviewing offenders on sex offender registries. Participants were a heterogeneous sample of 24 Australian police personnel whose roles were primarily associated with the operation of sex offender registries across three different jurisdictions. Participants’ perceptions of sex offender registry interviews were elicited using non-directive prompts in focus groups of between two and five officers. Transcripts of these focus groups were analysed andkey themes identified. Reported benefits related to the identification and correction of misunderstandings about registry requirements and elicitation of information to assist ongoing management and investigation of new offences. Further, establishing a sound relationship enabled proactive support of the offender in his/her attempt not to re-offend. Interview procedures emphasised the importance of genuine engagement and a relationship based on trust. The findings highlighted several challenges to interviewing and directions for further training, support and research. Participants’ responses underscore the significant role that interviews play in the effective implementation of sex offender registries and emphasise the need for successful engagement of offenders during these interviews to improve the utility of registry schemes. This was the first study to examine the strengths and challenges of interviewing offenders on the registry from a policing perspective.

The effect of mood on opposite-sex judgments of males' commitment and females sexual intent

Gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent and commitment have been the subject of formal and informal inquiry for considerable time. One evolutionary theory, Error Management Theory (EMT), predicts that opposite-sex perceptions of female sexual intent and male commitment intent reflect intrinsic biases that minimize gender-specific evolutionary costs. The results supporting these hypotheses were obtained from subjects regardless of mood. We hypothesized that mood would influence ratings of sexual and commitment intent. Sixty participants (30 males, 30 females) were recruited and exposed to a positive and negative mood condition in counterbalanced groups using video stimuli. Preliminary analyses found an unexpected effect of order of mood induction, necessitating separate analyses of the Positive-Negative (PN) and Negative-Positive (NP) groups. Contrary to the original study, there were no gender effects. Positive moods led to increased ratings of both sexual and commitment intent across genders. Further, negative to positive mood-change was associated with significantly increased ratings. Both males and females attributed significantly higher sexual intent to same-sex rivals than themselves, but only males assessed themselves as having significantly higher commitment intent than same-sex rivals. The EMT model may require adaptation to acknowledge effects of variables such as mood on its predictions of gender-specific biases.

Knowledge, risk perceptions and condom usage in male sex workers from three Australian cities

The study identifies factors associated with knowledge and perception of risk of HIV/AIDS, as well as attitudes to and usage of condoms by a sample of male sex workers (MSW). One hundred and eighty-five male sex workers completed a self-reported questionnaire, including knowledge about HIV transmission, attitudes to condom use and perceptions and personal susceptibility to HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk, and a two-week diary recording use of condom during commercial sex encounters. The findings reveal that condom use was found in 77.7% of the encounters with clients and the majority of the respondents perceived themselves to be at no risk for HIV because of sex work. Independent sex workers from Melbourne and workers who owned their place of residence used condoms in a significant lower proportion. Generally speaking, knowledge about the risks associated with AIDS was high, with respondents showing lower knowledge about the risks associated with unprotected receptive or active oral sex. Participants held a positive attitude to condom use; most considered the provisions of condoms to be their responsibility rather than clients; and they were more worried about contracting an STI than HIV. Those who scored higher on the knowledge scale had more positive attitudes to condom use and those who had a more positive attitude to condom use recorded a perceived lower risk of contracting STI but not HIV. The study discusses the relevance of these findings for public health risk reduction and sexual health education campaigns.

Alcohol and drug use in Australian male sex workers: its relationship to the safety outcome of the sex encounter

This paper describes the self-reporting patterns of alcohol and drug consumption among male sex workers (MSWs) in three Australian cities during commercial sex encounters, and examines to what extent alcohol and drugs are used and whether this is related to the safe/unsafe outcome of the commercial sex encounter. One hundred and eighty-six MSWs from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne completed a diary following each commercial sex encounter over a two-week period. MSWs reported 2,087 commercial sex encounters during the study period. Alcohol or drug consumption was reported in 50.5% of the encounters.

Values in forensic and correctional psychology

Although the practice of forensic and correctional psychology has been understood in relation to certain sets of values that have been articulated in codes of ethical practice or organisational mission statements, there has been little consideration of how the values of offenders can inform the rehabilitative process. In this paper the criminogenic nature of values is discussed and how these might be addressed in an intervention. It is concluded that an exploration of values is not only a necessary condition for successful rehabilitation, but also essential if ethical problems in working with offenders are to be avoided.

Specific risk assessment based on victim type in children sexual offenders

Actuarial instruments for assessing sex offender recidivism have limited utility for specific risk assessment questions, such as the risk posed to particular types of victim. In order to obtain variables that discriminate between offenders with different classes of victim, data were coded from 324 files of child sexual offenders from a community-based sexual offender treatment program. Offenders with single or multiple victims were compared, as were offenders who did or did not offend against victims of both genders, and offenders with only intra-familial or extra-familial victims versus offenders with victims in both relationship categories. Variables that discriminated single-victim and multiple-victim offenders were similar to those identified in actuarial risk assessment scales, with the exception of history of childhood sexual abuse. With the exception of physical abuse history, the same variables discriminated specific offender groups according to victim gender and victim relationship, although in different combinations. There was limited support for the notion of specific risk variables.