Abstract
The Sex Offender Treatment Rating Scale (SOTRS) is proposed as a potential process and outcome measure for cognitive/behavioral sex offender treatment. Therapists complete a 6-point rating scale with behavioral descriptors of Insight, Deviant Thoughts, Awareness of Situational Risks, Motivation, Victim Empathy, and Offense Disclosure. The ratings are combined to produce a single treatment progress score. Pairs of therapists providing treatment for 122 court-referred male sexual offenders in 15 therapy groups independently completed the SOTRS twice, at 5-month intervals. The results showed that internal consistency, interrater agreement, and test-retest reliability were all high. While further studies are needed to validate the SOTRS against recidivism criteria, it can presently be used for staff development, treatment planning, program evaluation, and quality assurance objectives.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, R. D., & D'Amora, D. A. (1990).The clinical rating scale: A process and outcome measure for sexual offender group therapy. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, Toronto, Canada, Oct.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Ranieri, W. F. (1988). Scale for suicide ideation: Psychometric properties of a self-report version.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 499–505.
Bernfeld, G., Clark, L., & Parker, G. (1984). The process of adolescent group psychotherapy.International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 34, 111–126.
Finkelhor, D. (1984),Child sexual abuse: New theory and research, New York: Free Press.
Freeman-Longo, R. E., & Knopp, F. H. (1992). State-of-the-art sex offender treatment: outcome and issues.Annals of Sex Research, 5, 141–160.
Furby, L., Weinrott, M. R., & Blacksaw, L. (1989). Sex offender recidivism: A review.Psychological Bulletin, 105, 3–30.
Hanson, R. K., Steffy, R. A., & Gauthier, R. (1993). Long-term recidivism of child molesters.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 646–652.
Hare, R. D. (1985). Comparison of procedures for the assessment of psychopathy.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 7–16.
Klosko, J. S., Barlow, D. H., Tassinari, R., & Cerny, J. A. (1990). A comparison of alproazolam and behavior therapy in treatment of panic disorder.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 77–84.
Knopp, F. H., Freeman-Logo, R. E., & Stevenson, W. F. (1992).Nationwide survey of juvenile & adult sex offender treatment programs & models. Orwell, VT: Safer Society Press.
Kupfer, D. J., Bulik, C. M., & Grochocinski, V. (1984). Relationship between EEG sleep measures and clinical ratings of depression—a revisit.Journal of Affective Disorders, 6, 43–52.
Leber, W. R., Parsons, O. A., & Nichols, N. (1985). Neuropsychological test results are related to ratings of men alcoholics' therapeutic progress.Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 46(2), 116–121.
Marshall, W. L., & Barbaree, H. E. (1988). An outpatient treatment program for child molesters. In R. A. Prentky & V. L. Quinsey (Eds.),Sexual aggression: Current perspectives (pp. 137–151). New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Marshall, W. L., Jones, R., Ward, T., Johnston, P., & Barbaree, H. E. (1991). Treatment outcome with sex offenders.Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 465–485.
Miner, M. H., Marques, J. K., Day, D. M., & Nelson, C. (1990). Impact of relapse prevention in treating sex offenders: Preliminary findings.Annals of Sex Research, 3(2), 165–185.
Pithers, W. D., & Cumming, G. F. (1989). Can relapse be prevented? Initial outcome data from the Vermont Program for sexual aggressors. In D. R. Laws (Ed.),Relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 292–310). New York: Gullford.
Prentky, R., & Burgess, A. W. (1990). Rehabilitation of child molesters: A cost-benefit analysis.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 108–117.
Sandell, R. (1987). Assessing the effects of psychotherapy. II. A procedure for direct rating of psychotherapeutic change.Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 47, 37–43.
Schwartz, B. K. & Cellini, H. R. (1988),A practitioner's guide to treating the incarcerated male sex offender. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Scissons, E. H. (1978). An ecological study of the reliability of clinical judgment in executive appraisal.Journal of Vocational Behavior, 12, 342–350.
Siegel, R. A. (1978). Probability of punishment and suppression of behavior in psychopathic and nonpsychopathic offenders.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 514–522.
Soothill, K. L. & Gibbens, T. C. N. (1978). Recidivism of sexual offenders: A re-appraisal.British Journal of Criminology, 18, 267–276.
SPSS Inc. (1993).SPSS for Windows release 6.0 Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.
Welch, G., McColl, G., & Peace, K. (1984). The symptom rating test subscales: Replicability in a patient setting.Multivariate Experimental Clinical Research, 9, 71–82.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Anderson, R.D., Gibeau, D. & D'Amora, D.A. The sex offender treatment rating scale: Initial reliability data. Sex Abuse 7, 221–227 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02258506
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02258506