Examination of Treatment Completion and Predicted Outcome Among Incarcerated Sex Offenders

Abstract

This article addresses the prediction of treatment completion and outcome of 114 adult sex offenders using variables found to predict treatment outcome in outpatient sex offender programs. The variables of reading ability, marital status, age, presence of antisocial personality disorder, offense and victim discrimination, and instant offense were used. Three outcomes of treatment were assessed: (1) those who were rejected from the program during the evaluation phase; (2) those who dropped out of treatment; and (3) those who successfully completed the program. Results indicated that only reading ability and marital status were predictive of treatment outcome, with those with high reading ability and married having the best outcome. Failure of the other variables to differentiate between groups is attributed to differences in psychopathology between incarcerated and outpatient sex offenders and differences in structure between programs.