Department of Education Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
Crim Behav Ment Health. 2023 Feb;33(1):46-61. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2269. Epub 2022 Dec 30.
Predatory sexual acts by adults cause concern worldwide. Patterns of distorted thinking and weakened self-control are among the leading explanations. Amidst growing concerns about sexual offences in Nigeria, it might be that more psychologically informed interventions in prison could reduce the risks of further harm compared with the standard prison regime.
To test the effectiveness of a cognitive behaviourally informed intervention (CBII) in reducing violent sexual attitudes among men in prison in Nigeria for a sexual offence.
In a randomised controlled trial, men in two prisons who responded to in-prison advertising about the trial were screened for nature of offence and willingness to participate. Those nearing their sentence end or in other psychological therapy were excluded. Sample size was confirmed by power calculation. The Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Inventory (CSBI-22) and the Hypersexual Behaviour Inventory (HBI) were administered before, immediately after and 3 months after completion of a 12-session (18 h) Cognitive Behavioural Informed Intervention or equivalent periods of 'treatment as usual' (TAU) alone. The CBII was designed to change sexual attitudes, and delivered by trained cognitive therapists to the men, as a group, in one of the prisons while the controls received only TAU in the other.
Before the intervention, the 39 men in each group had similar psychosocial histories and sexual attitude scores. Following CBII, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in scale scores that was sustained, whereas the TAU group showed no significant change in scores. An ANCOVA analysis confirmed between-group differences immediately after the intervention and 3 months later.
This randomised controlled trial adds to existing knowledge in the field because prior studies have been from high income countries, where interventions are generally delivered in more privacy and at greater length. Given that our study had to be limited to change in sexual attitudes as the main outcome, future research must focus on the extent to which such change maps on to changes in interpersonal behaviour among such men. If these findings can be extended in this way and replicated, this could pave the way for more cost-efficient interventions in higher income countries too.
成年人的掠夺性行为引起了全世界的关注。思维扭曲和自我控制减弱是主要解释之一。在尼日利亚对性犯罪日益关注的情况下，与标准监狱制度相比，在监狱中进行更多心理干预可能会降低进一步伤害的风险。
测试认知行为干预（CBI）在减少尼日利亚性犯罪服刑男性暴力性态度方面的有效性。
在一项随机对照试验中，对响应监狱内关于试验广告的两名男性进行了犯罪性质和参与意愿的筛选。那些接近刑期结束或正在接受其他心理治疗的人被排除在外。通过计算功效来确定样本量。在完成 12 节（18 小时）认知行为干预或单独接受同等时间的“常规治疗”（TAU）之前、之后立即和 3 个月后，使用强迫性性行为量表（CSBI-22）和性过度行为量表（HBI）进行评估。CBI 旨在改变性态度，并由经过培训的认知治疗师在其中一所监狱中的男性中进行小组治疗，而对照组在另一所监狱中仅接受 TAU。
在干预前，每组 39 名男性具有相似的社会心理史和性态度评分。在 CBI 后，干预组的量表评分显著降低且持续，而 TAU 组的评分无显著变化。ANCOVA 分析证实了干预后立即和 3 个月后的组间差异。
这项随机对照试验增加了该领域的现有知识，因为先前的研究来自高收入国家，这些国家的干预措施通常在更私密和更长的时间内进行。鉴于我们的研究必须将性态度的改变作为主要结果，未来的研究必须侧重于这种改变在这些男性的人际行为中所产生的变化程度。如果这些发现可以以这种方式扩展并得到复制，那么这也可能为高收入国家的更具成本效益的干预措施铺平道路。
