What is the Effect of Sex Offender Treatment on Recidivism?

Last Updated on September 24th, 2026 at 08:47 pm
Originally Published on February 4th, 2022 at 08:00 am

Overview

A meta-analysis of studies focusing on the effect of treatment on reoffending.

Summary

Many attorneys recommend that their clients start treatment prior to sentencing both to get the help they need as well as to help with sentence mitigation.  After sentencing, all clients convicted of a sexual crime will likely have to successfully complete sexual offense specific treatment to complete probation.  While this is all common practice, the data on the effectiveness of treatment is not as robust as one might think.

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Reference

SOURCE RESEARCH

The effects of sexual offender treatment on recidivism: an international meta-analysis of sound quality evaluations

Schmucker, M. & Losel, F. (2015). The effects of sexual offender treatment on recidivism: an international meta-analysis of sound quality evaluations. Journal of Experimental Criminology

DOI: 10.1007/s11292-015-9241-z

Published: 2015
Research type: Meta-Analysis

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