LOGAN, Utah — Close to one-third of Utah's current prison population is made up of people convicted of sex offenses — a majority of which are crimes against children.
And while many states have a warehousing approach to incarceration, the Utah Department of Corrections offers therapeutic treatment to dozens of sex offenders each year.
The Utah State Prison is one of eight correctional facilities in the country that offers programming for convicted sex offenders.
Though it's not guaranteed, people sentenced to prison for a sex offense may be eligible to participate in the state's Sex Offender Treatment Program, or SOTP.
Steve Gehrke, a spokesman for the state's corrections system, says the prison provides cognitive/behavioral therapy two times per week that focuses on accepting responsibility, victim empathy and relapse prevention. Therapy consists of group psychotherapy, psycho-educational classes, homework and therapeutic activities with other offenders in treatment, according to the department's website.
"All offenders participating in sex offender treatment are expected to achieve satisfactory progress at both an intellectual and emotional level," said Gehrke. "Their progress is measured by observable changes — not simply by completion of assignments or time in therapy."
On average, therapy lasts 18 months, but Gehrke says some inmates progress more quickly and some take longer.
"Progress is based on how hard the offenders work, how motivated they are, and how willing they are to incorporate the changes in effort to show commitment toward rehabilitating their lives without being defensive," he said.
Michael Robinson, a program director at the prison who treats sex offenders, says the most effective treatment fosters a permanent change in thinking and behavior.
"I believe the best philosophy is to treat people with respect and hold them accountable for their choices," he said, "so that their change is lasting instead of trying to just look good, which is often what they did when they were offending."
Looking good, he explained, refers to a trait commonly found in sex offenders who carry out one life in public and a separate one in private.
"They appear normal on the outside," he said. "When they're home, inside is where they show this monstrous behavior."
Robinson says a majority of child sex offenders are not exclusively interested in children. In many cases, he said, perpetrators have a consensual adult sexual partner but simultaneously desire children. Pedophilia, he says, is a diagnosis for people who seek sexual encounters exclusively with children.
When asked how an adult can derive gratification from an underage person, Robinson says the reasons vary.
"Each individual has their own motivation for why they're offending," he said. "Which makes some more amenable to treatment than others."
Robinson says perpetrators may also target a child victim due to an inability to have appropriate adult relationships.
"Sometimes it includes a social ineptness in which they are afraid of rejection in pursuing a sexual relationship in a healthy, socially acceptable manner," he said. "It's still no excuse. It isn't an addiction, it isn't a sickness, it is a criminal choice."
He adds that most child sex crimes come from an individual's desire for control.
"Sexual abuse is a control crime; sex is the tool," he said. "It's not just physiologically sexual, it's also a gratification to have that type of power over another."
The first step in treatment requires participants to give a full disclosure of their offenses in front of their peers. Robinson says he's looking for participants to discuss how they selected their victims and to acknowledge how the crimes affected the victims.
"We're looking for their level of responsibility at the outset of treatment," he explained. "We're looking for emotional connection. Is there remorse as they're sharing this or are they just telling a story and not accepting responsibility?"
That first step, he says, can last up to three months for some inmates.
"Treatment isn't going to be easy for someone who is entrenched in deviant thinking," he added. "It will take a lot of courage to face their horrific choices and be able to recognize the effects of their choices on those that they hurt."
Next, offenders work to develop empathy for victims and focus on relapse prevention.
"Sexual abuse doesn't just happen," said Robinson. "It's planned."
Perpetrators work to develop a fundamental change in thinking and Robinson says he and other trained therapists can tell if inmates are being truthful.
After treatment, inmates are encouraged to prepare for life outside of prison and have realistic expectations of what's to come after their release. It's not uncommon for offenders to become reclusive after release, but treatment helps offenders realize a more social life can help prevent new offenses.
"Some people feel so terrible about themselves they think they need to be locked up for the rest of their lives," Robinson said. "If they don't crawl out of that, they sabotage themselves."
Information from: The Herald Journal, http://www.hjnews.com