title: Psychopathy, treatment change, and recidivism in high-risk, high-need sexual offenders.
abstract: The present study investigated 154 consecutive admissions to the Regional Treatment Center (Ontario) Sex Offender Treatment Program with reference to psychopathy and outcome. Ratings of treatment behavior, as well as clinical judgments as to whether risk was reduced, were coded based on treatment reports. With reference to Psychopathy Checklist-revised (PCL-R) scores, survival analyses indicated that high scorers recidivated at significantly higher rates than low scorers. However, offenders who received high PCL-R scores and lower scores on measures of treatment behavior recidivated at the same rate as low scorers on the PCL-R. Furthermore, among high PCL-R offenders, those rated as lower risk at post treatment in fact reoffended at a lower rate than those whose risk was rated as unchanged, although this difference failed to reach significance. Findings are discussed in light of the clinical and research literature.
authors.affiliation: Correctional Service of Canada.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Looman
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abracen
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serin
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marquis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires