Sex offenders are traditionally treated by means of incarceration with little or no additional psychotherapeutic intervention provided. However, recidivism rates among sex offenders who do not receive treatment remains high. (p.2458)
This statement indicates that treatment can be effective in remediating conditions giving rise to sex-related crime. However, as noted by Wing (1994), the kinds of treatments offered to sex offenders are quite diverse including pharmacotherapeutic methods, cognitive and behavioral methods, group therapy methods, and multimodal treatment strategies. The purpose of this report is to examine these differing treatment approaches in an effort to determine which, if any approach, is maximally effective.
Some treatment approaches to sex offenders have been, at least in part, pharmacotherapeutic efforts. Commonly, these approaches combine group therapy in conjunction with several kinds of medication. One frequently used medication is buspirone (BSP).
In a comprehensive review of the literature on BSP, Fedoroff and Fedoroff (1992) stated that clinical data indicates that it facilitates non-paraphilic arousal but inhibits paraphilic sexual arousal. The authors further state that data supports the claim that BSP's efficacy in reducing paraphilic arousal is related to its efficacy in reducing obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. Another excellent drug for paraphilic offenders has been medroxy-progesterone acetate (MPA). In this regard, Federoff, Wisner-Carlson, Dean and Berlin (1992) studied 46 male patients with paraphilic sexual disorders; all subjects were followed for five or more years following their release from prison.
All subjects in the study received equivalent amounts of group psychotherapy; however, only half of the men received MPA. Follow up findings revealed that of the total sample, 37 percent of the offenders relapsed.
However, the rate of relapse among those r...