Effects of Adjudication and Inpatient Treatment on Length of Psychological Treatment in Juvenile Sex Offenders

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

Literature examining juvenile sex offenders and psychological treatment suggests that there are various contributing factors that influence whether the patient will complete treatment, however, the effect of legal standing has not been closely researched. Knowing the factors that influence the time juvenile sex offenders take to complete psychological treatment has many practical implications, one such implication includes improving success rates for differing types of treatment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of three different pathways to outpatient treatment - adjudicated, not adjudicated, or from prior inpatient treatment - for juvenile sex offenders on how long it took the patient to complete their treatment. Data for this study was collected from files of clients from a psychology practice in a mid-Atlantic city. All files collected were from past clients who have completed outpatient treatment at this office. The files that were collected were for male, juvenile sex offenders, ranging in age from 10 to 17. The effect of three categories – adjudicated, not adjudicated, or from prior inpatient treatment – on the length of time it took to complete the outpatient treatment will be assessed in this sample.

Author

• Megan Marie Owens, West Virginia University