Classifying sexual offenders: an empirical model for generating type-specific approaches to intervention.

Although recidivism is lower among sexual offenders who have received treatment than those who have not, evaluation and treatment studies reach different numbers on recidivism rates and effectiveness. The question still remains as to what exactly works for whom; that is, does one kind of treatment work for all sexual offenders? This empirical study attempts to develop a sex offender typology that refers to treatment-relevant factors and characteristics to generate a framework for developing specific treatment approaches. In a first step the authors conduct a survey of experts to identify treatment-relevant factors for the later typology. In the main part of the study, 199 sexual offenders incarcerated in German prison and forensic facilities are examined according to the identified characteristics. A cluster analysis results in five subtypes of sexual offenders. In this article, the clusters are presented with regard to their criminologically relevant characteristics, and implications for type-related interventions are discussed.