Project Impact

June 23, 2007, SALEM, OREGON

Sex offender treatment is a standard condition of probation and post-prison supervision or parole for offenders who have committed a sexual crime. Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers on Monday, applauded the Oregon Legislature and Governor Kulongoski for passing and signing into law House Bill 3233 which creates the Sex Offender Treatment Board overseen by the Oregon Health Licensing Agency.

“Passage of House Bill 3233 creates a process by which qualified mental health professionals can be readily identified as having the expertise and training necessary to effectively treat sex offenders,” said Myers. “This process will improve community safety and prevent future victimization by reinforcing a critical component of the response to sex offenders in Oregon.”

Until the passage of HB 3233, Oregon was among a minority of states that did not have minimum professional requirements for sex offender treatment providers.

Sex offender treatment is a standard condition of probation and post-prison supervision or parole for offenders who have committed a sexual crime. HB 3233 was sponsored by state Representative Greg Macpherson (D-Lake Oswego), and Representatives Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), Vicki Berger (R-Salem), and Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver), at the request of the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force and the Oregon Sex Offender Supervision Network.

The sex offender treatment and certification board created by passage of HB 3233 will establish standards of practice and professional responsibility and adopt training and continuing education requirements for certification.

The new law also creates the professional titles of Clinical Sex Offender Therapist and Associate Sex Offender Therapist. The Sex Offender Treatment Board will be administered by Oregon Health Licensing Agency, a state consumer protection agency that provides regulatory oversight for health and related professions.

“We look forward to collaborating with the wide range of stakeholders involved in sex offender treatment to establish an effective and responsive regulatory program,” said Susan K. Wilson, OHLA Director. “It is an extensive and complex task, but the benefits to the public are substantial.”

The SOTB will consist of seven experts in the field of sex offender treatment and management, including licensed mental health professionals.

The bill provides that the Governor nominate and state Senate confirm members’ appointments to three-year terms.

The Oregon Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, the Oregon Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment Network, the Oregon Association of Community Corrections Directors and the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors Association will recommend appointments to the Governor.

House Bill 3233 recognizes that a majority of convicted sex offenders ultimately return to the community upon completion of their sentences.

Sex offender treatment providers assume a vital role in protecting the public from offenders who return and remain in the community. “It is critical that the treatment providers who work with sex offenders have the specific skills, knowledge and training necessary to reduce recidivism, prevent future victimization and work collaboratively with management professionals to protect the community,” said Heather J. Huhtanen, Program Director for the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force.

Myers hailed the passage of HB 3233 as “a key component of the comprehensive response necessary to ensure community and victim safety.”

House Bill 3233 is scheduled to be signed by Governor Kulongoski on Friday at noon in the Governor’s Ceremonial Office of the State Capitol. Copies of House Bill 3233 can be found at www.leg.state.or.us.

Once initial members of the board are appointed and confirmed, more information on the establishment of the new sex offender treatment regulatory program will be at www.oregon.gov/OHLA/SOTB.

Like many of the mental and medical conditions that are society is plagued with today (alcoholism, schizophrenia, depression, chronic asthma, some sexually transmitted infections and cancers), sexually offending is no different in that there currently is no 100% cure or remedy. The course and outcome of individuals who have sexually offended are highly variable. Some individuals who have crossed a sexual boundary once and receive appropriate treatment might never sexually offend again, while others exhibit a fluctuating pattern of periods of time where they are not engaging in sexually abusive behavior followed by relapse, and others experience a chronically deteriorating course of obsessive-compulsive sexually abusive behavior over many years.

Contemporary cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), however helps offenders learn to control their behavior. By reorganizing and changing the thoughts that rationalize and justify sexually abusive behavior, sex offenders can become more aware of the harm caused to victims and view their behavior differently. As well, sex offenders learn to identify their patterns of behavior, including the people, places, and things that put them at risk for offending. Through avoidance of certain situations, acquiring new coping skills for stress, and learning to meet their emotional and sexual needs in healthy ways, motivated sex offenders can prevent future offending. Although for some sex offenders who continue to be attracted to children, they can learn strategies to avoid acting on their impulses.

Consider these analogies:

When adults get married, they do not stop being attracted to other people. They do stop acting on that attraction, because they think about the commitment of marriage helps them to control their behavior.

For individuals diagnosed with an eating disorder the goal of treatment is not to have the individual stop eating food all together. Instead the goal of treatment is to reduce the number of times the individual engages in the eating disorder. Support the individual in developing a healthy eating and exercise habits. Explore and deal with the shame and guilt associated with the eating disorder.

Likewise, many chemically addicted persons continue to struggle with urges to use drugs or alcohol. Through treatment and recovery, however, many (not all) choose to change their behavior because they are committed to a new, healthy, and productive lifestyle.

Does sex offender treatment really work?

Early studies, conducted in the 70’s and 80’s, were unable to detect differences in recidivism rates between sex offenders who had undergone treatment and those who had not (Furby, Weinrott, & Blackshaw, 1989). This finding was widely publicized, leading to skepticism about the benefits of treatment, and opening the door to punitive public policies. Actually, although the research is not unequivocal, treatment has been found to decrease sex offense recidivism. Recent, statistically sophisticated studies with extremely large combined samples have found that contemporary cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) does help reduce rates of sexual offending by as much as 40% (Hanson, Gordon, Harris, Marques, Murphy, Quinsey, & Seto, 2002). However, treatment does not work equally well for all offenders (like any psychological or mental health treatment – or medical interventions, for that matter). Some research indicates that comprehensive programs and length of time in treatment are also important factors in the effectiveness of treatment (Hall, 1995; Lowden, Hetz, Harrison, Patrick, English, & Pasini-Hill, 2003). Treatment failure is associated with higher recidivism rates, and some research indicates that sex offenders who successfully complete a treatment program re-offend less often than those who do not successfully complete treatment (Marques, Miederanders, Day, Nelson, & Van Ommerman, 2005).