The Effectiveness of Sexual Offender Treatment for Juveniles as Measured by Recidivism: A Meta-analysis

Authors: Reitzel, Lorraine; Carbonell, Joyce

Source: Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Volume 18, Number 4, October 2006 , pp. 401-421(21)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Published and unpublished data from nine studies on juvenile sexual offender treatment effectiveness were summarized by meta-analysis (N=2986, 2604 known male). Recidivism rates for sexual, non-sexual violent, non-sexual non-violent crimes, and unspecified non-sexual were as follows: 12.53%, 24.73%, 28.51%, and 20.40%, respectively, based on an average 59-month follow-up period. Four included studies contained a control group (N=2288) and five studies included a comparison treatment group (N=698). An average weighted effect size of 0.43 (CI=0.33-0.55) was obtained, indicating a statistically significant effect of treatment on sexual recidivism. However, individual study characteristics (e.g., handling of dropouts and non-equivalent follow-up periods between treatment groups) suggest that results should be interpreted with caution. A comparison of odds ratios by quality of study design indicated that higher quality designs yielded better effect sizes, though the difference between groups was not significant.

Keywords: Juvenile sex offender treatment; Meta-analysis; Treatment effectiveness; Study quality; Juvenile sex offender recidivism

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11194-006-9031-2

Affiliations: 1: Email: lrreitze@mdanderson.org

Publication date: 2006-10-01