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In response to a number of highly publicized sexually-oriented and violent crimes against children, the federal government enacted legislation aimed at monitoring sex offenders in the community. Sex offender registration and notification laws are intended to prevent sexual victimization by informing the general public about would-be danger, providing the police with additional investigative tools, and deterring offenders from engaging in further criminal behavior. Despite public support for these laws, it is not clear they effectively reduce sex offending. This essay reviews the development of these laws, their application, and the impact of registration and notification.

In this chapter, we first describe the all governing principles of treatment for sexual offenders that maximise effectiveness. These are derived from Andrews and Bonta's (2006) summary of a variety of meta-analyses of outcome studies. From this source and others, we then claim that there are three elements essential to effective treatment: (1) targeting criminogenic features; (2) employing empirically sound procedures to modify these targets; and (3) delivering treatment in an effective psychotherapeutic way. Next we describe our treatment approach that emphasises these crucial elements within a strength-based programme that is motivational and provides Ward's (2002) Good Lives Model as the framework. We then challenge the broadly accepted idea that the Random Controlled Trial (RCT) is the only basis upon which inferences about treatment effectiveness can be derived. We point to methodological, practical and ethical problems associated with implementing an RCT study and offer at least two alternatives: the so-called ‘incidental design’ which compares the outcome of the treated group with a matched (but not randomly assigned) group from the same or similar setting to the treated group; and a strategy where the recidivism rate of treated group is compared with what would be expected on the basis of risk assessments of each of the treated subjects.

Recently researchers working on criminal behaviour have interested in elder offenders as the population is getting older. Crime statistics showed that the number of offenders over the age 55 is increasing each year. These statistics revealed that older people engage not only in minor crimes but also engage in serious crimes. One of this kind of crimes is sexual abuse which is defined as sexual offending against the individuals who are incapable of giving consent. Although public view regarding to elder people sexuality is seen as they are incapable of this kind of acts because of their age, the statistics showed that contrary. Yet the reasons behind the offending behaviour of these elderly people is explained little by the researchers. The aim of this chapter is to review the psychological perspective including neurobiological, psychiatric, cognitive and behavioural perspective. Neurobiological and psychiatric approach mainly focused on disease that lead to criminal conduct like dementia or paedophilia. Cognitive approach emphasises the cognitive distortions regarding to sexual abuse behaviour. Behavioural approach proposed that the learning process based on classical conditioning and operant conditioning determine the sexual abuse behaviour. Yet none of the theories alone not enough to explain the sexual abuse behaviour in elderly people. There is a need for more studies on sex offending behaviour of elderly people in order to have comprehensive understanding of their behaviour and to put forward new theoretical models.

To explain the persistent abhorrent perspective society holds of sex offenders, the concept of sex offenders, the evolution of salient sex offender legislation, and the relationships between sex offenders and social control with a focus on the current and emerging socio-legal issues are discussed. As one of the most vilified criminal offenders, sex offenders are inextricably related to social control as demonstrated by the disproportionately imposed legal restrictions they have experienced compared to offenders without a history of sex crimes. Public support of excessive punishments toward sex offenders has been bolstered by societal depictions that have induced perceptions of sex offenders as monstrous beings.

Aversions toward sex offenders unfold when it is perceived that the solidarity of society is dissolute and volatile. During these periods of perceived social disintegration, mass media emerges as a source that can contextualize the depraved actions of sex offenders, though the media have arguably perverted their role as an educator and contributed to misinformation. Education and revised evaluative assessments of sexual recidivism are suggested as approaches to redefine how sex offenders should be portrayed, as a heterogeneous group of individuals that vary in their amenability to rehabilitative treatment.

This chapter describes Andrews and Bonta's (2006) Principles of Effective Offender Treatment and its relevance for the treatment of sexual offenders. The three principles of this model are Risk, Needs and Responsivity. Each of these is described in some detail with the greatest emphasis being placed on general responsivity which is one of the two parts of the Responsivity Principle. Our interpretation of general responsivity differs from the view of others (e.g. Hanson et al., 2009) who define this aspect of Responsivity in terms of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). While Andrews and Bonta indicate that within their meta-analyses, CBT programmes were the ones most likely to succeed; such programmes were not at all effective. It seems to us that a far more important aspect of general responsivity is what Andrews and Bonta describe as the Core Correctional Practices (CCP) which have to do with the way in which treatment is delivered. We review the CCPs in some detail and provide other evidence indicating that the style of treatment delivery is the crucial factor in determining effectiveness.

In the year 2001, the Risk Assessment Pilot Program was implemented in Argentina with the aims of establishing a systematic manner of assessing risk for violent recidivism in conditional release candidates and contributing to the design of intervention programs that help to reduce the criminal recidivism rate. The baseline assessment showed that conditional release candidates had a high-risk profile: 72.5% had severe or moderate substance abuse problems; 62% had failed in previous probation, conditional release or discharge from a mental institution; 85% had serious or moderate employment problems before incarceration. Individuals who were substance abusers were incorporated to the Drug Abuse Biochemical Control Program. Variations in dynamic factors were assessed with conditionally released subjects. Some encouraging results were obtained through December 2003 and their initial impact on judicial and penitentiary institutions is already seen.

Traditionally evaluators of offending behaviour programmes have examined group-level mean change in treatment targets without acknowledging the potential variability of change at an individual level. Clinically significant change, although used widely in the therapy literature generally, has only recently been examined within forensic therapeutic contexts. This chapter provides an overview of key concepts, and the published literature in which clinically significant change has been examined within forensic samples is reviewed. It is concluded that although this technique has the potential to validate programme theory, it is yet to be used to its full potential within a forensic context.