@article{ref1,
title="On the effectiveness of sexual offender treatment in prisons: a comparison of two different evaluation designs in routine practice",
journal="Sexual abuse: a journal of research and treatment",
year="2019",
author="Lösel, Friedrich and Link, Eva and Schmucker, Martin and Bender, Doris and Breuer, Maike and Carl, Lena and Endres, Johann and Lauchs, Lora",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Although there is less continuity of sexual offending in the life course than stereotypes suggest, treatment should lead to a further reduction of reoffending. Contrary to this aim, a recent large British study using propensity score matching (PSM) showed some negative effects of the core sex offender treatment program (SOTP) in prisons. International meta-analyses on the effects of sex offender treatment revealed that there is considerable variety in the results, and methodological aspects and the context play a significant role. Therefore, this study compared different designs in the evaluation of sex offender treatment in German prisons. PSM was compared with an exact matching (EM) by the Static-99 in a sample of 693 sex offenders from Bavarian prisons. Most results were similar for both methods and not significant due to low base rates. There was a treatment effect at <i>p</i> <.05 on general recidivism in the EM and at <i>p</i> =.06 on serious reoffending in the PSM. For sexual recidivism, EM showed a negative trend, whereas PSM suggested the opposite. Overall, the study underlines the need for more replications of evaluations of routine practice, methodological comparisons, sensitive outcome criteria, and differentiated policy information.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-0632",
doi="10.1177/1079063219871576",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1079063219871576"
}