Sex offender treatment: A look at treatment among states

Sex offenses have been in the news for many years. Many offenders are not sent to prison but rather are supervised in the community. Sex offender treatment has been used to treat sex offenders to reduce the risk to reoffend and improve community safety. A meta-analysis of sex offender treatment showed a link to sexual recidivism and sexual deviancy but overall the opinion on whether sex offender treatment lowers recidivism remains divided. Three treatment models are discussed in this paper, cognitive-behavioral group therapy, chemical castration, and relapse prevention. Each model shows some support to reduce recidivism among offenders but each model also has weaknesses. This paper looks at sex offender treatment among three states, Texas, Minnesota, and Colorado. The Texas, Minnesota, and Colorado sex offender treatment models are discussed. The three states use the penile plythesmograph, polygraph test, and Abel screen in sex offender treatment. Texas and Minnesota implement civil commitment as a way to safeguard the community against the most dangerous sex offenders. Colorado uses life time supervision of sex offender's too high risk to reside in the community without supervision. Finally, the sex offender treatment methods among the states will be compared.