1. Good Management of Sex Offender Treatment Programmes
David Cook
National Offender Management Service, England and Wales
Compiled by Ruth Mann and David Cook

2. Final words
Good implementation of treatment does not just happen; it must be managed and so there must be a manager.
Managers do not just have to manage staff within the programme, they need to manage many things outside programme.

3. What must the manager get right?
The evidence base behind the programme – what works with sex offenders?
The evidence base for the programme – is this working?
Setting and maintaining ethical standards
Choosing the right staff and keeping them on track
Establishing and maintaining a good reputation for the programme

4. Selecting staff

5. Selecting staff
Organization should have a specified selection procedure
There should be objective or actuarial processes that assess both knowledge and performance, with a scoring protocol
Assessment methods:
Interview
Role-play
Presentation
Completion of psychometric measures

6. Therapist competencies
BASIC COMPETENCIES
Understanding normative behaviours and theoretical models of sexual deviance
Socratic questioning
Effective use of behavioural techniques such as reinforcement and modelling
Ability to help the offender generalise alternative thinking and behaviour outside the treatment environment
Understanding and using group process
Working with a co-therapist
ADVANCED COMPETENCIES
Therapeutic skills
Interpersonal skills
Understanding and accepting the client
Using positive language
Instilling hope for change
Working collaboratively with the client
Personal resilience

7. Supervision

8. Supervising Staff Two types of supervision Line supervision Line
Functional
Line supervision
administrative
getting procedures right

9. Supervising Staff Functional supervision
supervision of the process of delivering treatment
its purpose is the learning of the person being supervised
supervision is the main source of professional development for most therapists
individual vs. team
structured vs. semi-structured
our recommendation is that supervision should be provided by more experienced therapists who can train, model and develop the practice of less experienced colleagues

10. Deselecting staff
Managers may have to make a decision and implement de-selection
We recommend implementing a Code of Practice with staff as a basis for decision making – in addition to the contract of employment and the organisation’s own procedures
ATSA has published Practice Standards and Guidelines with include a section on Professional Conduct –

11. What organizational issues need to be managed?
Senior management/policy makers
pressures for quick results
Attitudes of custodial/probation staff
may include non-therapy staff at programme site
Attitudes of offenders to the programme
Attitudes of external stakeholders
sentencers, Parole Board
Attitude of own staff
elitism

12. Marketing the programme

13. Marketing the programme to operational staff
Effective treatment relies upon positive support of non-psychological staff (Ware, Hart, & Fragaki, 2008)
Attitudes may not be positive
only 20% prison officers think sex offenders can change (Weekes, Pelletier, & Beaudette, 1995)
but 68% of sample wanted more training in how to deal with sex offenders

14. Marketing the programme to offenders
A treatment programme will only be supported if you get clients in the door
Mann (2009) found that refusers:
did not feel informed
did not understand aims/goals of treatment
held cynical beliefs – ‘treatment is only to appease public’
influenced by rumours – ‘treatment started in Canada and now stopped because it doesn’t work’

15. Marketing the programme to external stakeholders
Manager’s role may also be to inform or defend programme’s evidence-based policies to outside agencies (Spencer, 1999)
the judiciary or the Parole Board may be sceptical about treatment effectiveness (Hood et al., 2002)
voluntary agencies – securing support ofagencies for offenders, or justifying to victims groups why ‘low’ risk offenders may need only a short programme

16. Contacts

17. Final words
Good implementation of treatment does not just happen; it must be managed and so there must be a manager.
Managers do not just have to manage staff within the programme, they need to manage many things outside programme.