In the Caribbean and elsewhere, sex offenders tend to be considered the worst of all offenders. If their crime was against a child, then they themselves become targets for violence from other inmates in prison.
So it requires a mental adjustment and an objective stance to write about this research. Done by Barry University's Jill Levenson, the title is "Incorporating Principles of Trauma-Informed Care Into Evidence-Based Sex Offending Treatment".
She cites previous research to establish that Childhood adversity is clearly associated with adult criminality, particularly interpersonal violence, and greater exposure to adverse events significantly increases the likelihood of mental health problems and serious involvement in drugs and crime (Harlow, 1999; Messina et al., 2007).
Abused prisoners are more likely than non-abused inmates to be incarcerated for murder, a violent offence or sexual crime (Harlow, 1999). As well, Harlow found that adult illegal drug use and heavy drinking were more common among abused state prisoners than non-abused prisoners.
A meta-analysis of 1717 offenders found that about 28.2% of sex offenders reported ahistory of childhood sexual abuse (Hanson & Slater, 1988), a figure which exceeds the estimated 16–17% rate of sexual victimisation for males in the general population (CDC, 2013b; Hunter,1990).
A more recent meta-analysis involving 1037 sex offenders and 1762 non-sex offenders also revealed that sex offenders were more than three times more likely to have been sexually abused than non-sex offenders (Jespersen, Lalumière, & Seto, 2009). Sex offenders against children were more likely to have been sexually abused, but those who assaulted adults were more likely to have experienced physical abuse in childhood (Jespersen et al., 2009).
Consequent to the revelations from all the data, Jill Levenson concludes that "content-oriented sex offender treatment models emphasising cognitive-behavioural skills should integrate process-oriented components that address the ways in which early trauma shapes adult cognitions and behaviour.
Relational approaches to therapy can enhance clients' interpersonal skills and improve general well-being. This type of personal growth would be expected to mitigate future offending as the client adopts and successfully practices healthier, non-destructive strategies for meeting emotional needs."
[Dive into the details of the research article on Researchgate.net]
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