9-11-16 Country: India:
The discussion is part of a group counseling session initiated by the Juvenile Justice Board in Mumbai, headed by Principal Magistrate Gauri Jadhav.
Seated in a circle, eight boys discuss the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, on awareness of their actions and impulse control. While this could be true for any group of teenagers, this discussion is being held at the Child Guidance Clinic of the Dongri Observation Home.
The boys are children in conflict with the law — boys booked in alleged cases of sexual abuse. The discussion is part of a group counseling session initiated by the Juvenile Justice Board in Mumbai, headed by Principal Magistrate Gauri Jadhav.
While the Juvenile Justice Act has provisions for group counselling, it is not often that such sessions are organised at the pending-inquiry stage for the youngsters, experts said. The Mumbai Board gave its go-ahead to the plan after various stakeholders, including the socio-legal project Resource Cell for Juvenile Justice, felt the need for it to address issues faced by adolescents in custody.
“We conduct one-on-one sessions with the children, but have initiated group counselling for the first time in Mumbai. The idea is that children, when in a group of people having gone through similar experiences, feel they are not alone. On an individual basis, they may have a defence to deal with what is being told to them. In a group, we feel that the guard is down and hearing others share their experiences gives them a space to vent,” said Dr. Shrirang Joshi, visiting psychiatrist, CGC Dongri, who led the session. He says that while the criminal justice system has two sides, the victim and the accused, some intervention for the offenders is also significant.
The sessions, held in three parts, also involve the parents of the children, counselled separately. “We usually put questions in a simple manner to the teenagers, to make them distinguish between the choices they have made. The focus is on looking at them in terms of their future, as teenagers are very receptive,” he said.
The recently amended Juvenile Justice Act prescribes preliminary assessment of those children between 16-18 years who have been apprehended for heinous offences, to determine whether they can be tried as adults. While sexual abuse cases too fall in this category, those working with children in conflict with the law feel rehabilitation is an important factor for the group.
“Everyone keeps scaring us about the case and how it will ruin my son’s life forever. This was the first time we heard others in the same situation. My son and I have never discussed the case in detail but he keeps assuring me that once he comes out, he will focus on his studies. I will help him in all ways possible once he is out,” said the mother of one of the eight boys.
The single mother, whose son has been inside the Home for over six months, also participated in the session. ..Source.. by Sadaf Modak
September 11, 2016
In a first for city, minor sexual offenders get group counselling
October 20, 2012
Juvenile sex offenders more likely to respond to treatment than adults, expert says
10-20-2012 National:
After the arrest of 17-year-old ___ on Thursday for the alleged sexual abuse of two young boys, there is cause for concern for both the victims and ___. Teresa Huizar, executive director for the National Children's Alliance, offered additional insight into the matter of juvenile sex offenders.
The National Children's Alliance is an accrediting agency for children's advocacy centers that service sexually abused children across the country. The 6- and 9-year-old victims in the ___ case were interviewed by staffers from the Jefferson Parish Children's Advocacy Center.
___, of Kenner, was 16 years old when the incidents allegedly occurred in April and May. A relative walked in on one encounter and reported it to local medical and legal authorities.
Huizar said child abuse advocates have recently begun to pay more attention to the problem of juvenile sex offenders. Nationally, they account for about 20 to 30 percent of the suspects who commit sexual offenses against minors, according to Huizar.
"It appears to be a problem that is certainly coming to the attention of the public far more than it used to, and we think there may be an increase in offending behavior," she said.
When dealing with a young offender, Huizar said it's important to determine whether or not the juvenile is a victim of abuse. ___ made no allegations of sexual abuse against himself when interviewed by detectives, according to Sgt. Brian McGregor, spokesman for the Kenner Police Department. He also denied touching the victims.
But past abuse is not always an indicator of potential future abuse, according to experts. "That's the kind of a myth that exists in the public perception, only individuals that have been sexually abused go on to abuse," Huizar said.
Most abuse victims do not become sex offenders, according to a 2009 in-depth study on juvenile sex offenders by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "There are lots of reason that a juvenile might sexually act out or be inappropriate," Huizar said.
Adolescents nowadays are pretty sexualized, pretty early, she said. They have almost unfettered access to risqué materials through television and the Internet. Developmentally, young children aren't meant to look at pornography of any type, she said.
"Repeated exposure makes individuals curious about that, and that can lead to some pretty specific acting-out behavior," Huizar said. The Justice Department study also found that juvenile sex offenders could suffer from mental illness or have a pattern of violating other's rights. But most often, the study said, it's impulsive and reflects poor judgement.
While the research on the efficacy of sexual treatment of adults is discouraging, Huizar said, it's actually encouraging for young offenders. "The earlier you interrupt that cycle, the better," she said. "The longer that someone gets sexual gratification from offending, the more difficult it is to change that sexual behavior. It allows the juvenile to receive treatment he needs to interrupt this behavior before it becomes a fixed part of his sexual interest."
It's alarming for parents to discover that a child has become the victim of abuse. But Huizar said it's just as alarming to discover that one's own son or daughter is the offender. "It's every parent's worst nightmare to think that your child might be abusing another child," she said.
But parents should have hope. Many treatment providers specialize in this area and can be easily contacted through local mental health centers or the state Department of Children and Family Services.
Huizar said it's important that parents who suspect their children are suffering from controlling those types of impulses and even the the children, themselves, know that help is available. "It's available and it's effective," she said. ..Source.. by Michelle Hunter
August 30, 2011
DOUG ROSS: Prisons are for correction, not just punishment
8-30-2011 Indiana:
f you think sentencing reform is all about making the punishment fit the crime, you're not quite right. It's about making sure the criminal changes bad behavior, too.
This nugget came from a conversation between The Times Editorial Board and Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner Bruce Lemmon. Think about that agency's name. It says nothing about punishment.
At a time when the prison system is at capacity, and with the cost of building a new facility at a minimum of $150 million, you might think the state's top prison official would be urging judges, prosecutors and lawmakers to start reducing sentences.
Perhaps, but don't reduce them to so short a term that behavior modification can occur, Lemmon said.
"If we're just going to be a warehouse, we're not going to solve the problem," he said.
In Indiana, as is typical elsewhere across the United States, about 85 percent of inmates have substance abuse problems. Their particular crime might not be for possessing or selling drugs, or even driving under the influence, but substance abuse can fuel everything from burglary to violent crimes.
A short sentence of three to four months just isn't long enough for treatment to occur, Lemmon said.
State prison officials want to find out why a prisoner committed the crime for which he or she was sentenced so they can try to prevent that person from getting in the same kind of trouble. There are separate programs for sex offenders, meth addicts, alcoholics and others.
With a three-year recidivism rate of about 38 percent, Indiana needs to change behavior to break the cycle of incarceration. Some of the programs are succeeding in reducing that rate. For addicts, the recidivism rate is generally higher.
Treatment programs help keep prisons safer, too.
"The more you keep offenders engaged during the day, the better off you're going to be," Lemmon said.
The legislative study committee working on sentencing reform needs to keep this in mind as it completes its review. The legislators also must resist the temptation in the future to enhance penalties in well-intentioned but misguided attempts to crack down on crime -- or to swing the pendulum so far in the other direction that actual behavior modification doesn't occur.
"We're not talking about being soft on crime; we're talking about being smart on crime," Lemmon said. ..Source.. by Doug Ross
April 27, 2011
Some Experts Believe Treatment for Sex Offenders Makes a Difference
4-27-2011 Global:
Research Seems to Support This Idea, Though There Is Disagreement
There is no cure, but many experts say there is clear evidence that effective treatment prevents sexual predators from re-offending. Others aren’t quite so sure.
The issue is pertinent in Montville because of the state Department of Correction’s plan to place a 24-bed treatment facility for sex offenders adjacent to the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center on Route 32.
Advocates for such programs point to a number of studies that they say show treatment is a realistic way to reduce recidivism. Besides, they argue, it just makes common sense.
“It’s become abundantly clear that intensive treatment at the end of a prison sentence works immensely better than just opening the (prison) door and letting them go,” said Brian A. Garnett, spokesman for the correction department.
Substantial research conducted over the past three decades support this conclusion. Garnett offered information on several studies, including ones released in 1991 and 1999, that bolster the view that treatment helps. The 1999 report, conducted by a Wisconsin expert, examined the results of 79 studies covering a total of nearly 11,000 sex offenders. The conclusion, according to the report: Treated offenders committed an additional sex crime at a rate of 11 percent, compared to 17.6 percent for the untreated.
More recently, a 2002 study conducted in Canada and reported upon by the American Psychological Association, found that recidivism rates among offenders not treated was 17.3 percent compared to 9.9 percent for offenders who had treatment.
However, the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, an agency that compiles and analyzes criminal data, reached a “mixed” finding after researching whether sex treatment makes a difference. It found that some studies show that treatment has virtually no impact while others have determined it does reduce repeat offending.
“The only study to date which has used a randomized sample showed little or no effect on recidivism,” the criminal justice division determined.
This study, the division reported, considered three groups of sex offenders – those who volunteered to participate in relapse prevention treatment, those who volunteered but were not selected to receive treatment, and those who chose not to participate.
“After being in the community for anywhere between five to 14 years, rates of new sexual, violent and general criminal activity were similar in the three groups,” according to the criminal justice division.
The division stated on its website that it is difficult to gauge accurate recidivism rates because fewer than 40 percent of rapes, child molestations and other sex crimes on victims over the age of 12 are reported to authorities.
Garnett said that sex-offender treatment is provided in six Connecticut correctional facilities with about 25 group sessions each week. At any time, he added, there are about 220 inmates in treatment, and treatment lasts for a minimum of one year but typically one to three years.
Some of the 220 will be selected to reside at the new Montville facility, a halfway house of sorts. Officials say the facility is designed to ease offenders back into the community while they receive both group and one-on-one therapy. The correction department has emphasized that all offenders will be accompanied by a supervisor when they leave the facility.
Psychiatrist Michael Norko, a Yale professor who has studied and written about sex offenders, said in an interview that institutional treatment – when offenders aren’t mixing with the general population – is ineffective.
“In-patient situations create an artificial environment,” he said. “Offenders don’t encounter the triggers that trigger bad behavior.”
Norko favors a scenario where there is extensive outpatient treatment. The offender resides in the community, where temptations exist, but receives intensive treatment and counseling at the same time.
One thing everybody agrees upon is that sex offenders, especially pedophiles, should be required to stay away from schools, playgrounds and other places where children congregate. Authorities compare this to situations where recovering alcoholics should stay out of bars and compulsive gamblers should steer clear of casinos.
Some states have adopted a more aggressive way to treat violent sex offenders. The Associated Press reports that eight states allow for some form of castration for offenders. The AP said only Louisiana and Texas allow physical castration – the surgical removal of the testes. Six states have chosen chemical castration through medications that reduce testosterone, which fuels a man’s sex drive. ..Source.. by Stan DeCoster
