Attrition in a Community Treatment Program for Child Sexual Abusers

Abstract

The current preoccupation is with risk prediction in sexual offenders and the associated emphasis on effective models of treatment. However, a few studies have identified noncompliance with treatment and attrition rates as playing an important role in later sexual recidivism. This study—the Challenge Project—reports on attrition rates in a community treatment project for child sexual abusers in Southeast London. The researchers have attempted to identify which variables can predict attendance at and completion of treatment. The findings for the first 78 men in treatment for at least 1 year are that variables associated with psychological difficulties and childhood trauma are consistently more important in predicting treatment completion than offense-related variables. The sexual recidivism rate for the community sample was so low after an average of 3 years at risk that it was not possible to examine its relationship with compliance in treatment.