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Appendix M: Pratley, J. (2007). Increases in disclosure by intra- familial child sex offenders. Unpublished Masters thesis, University of New South Wales This Thesis is submitted for the completion of a Master of Psychology (Forensic) at the University of New South Wales. Submitted November 2nd, 2007. Forensic Psychology Program Director: Dr. Brett Hayes Supervisor: Associate-Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales External Supervisor: Dale Tolliday, Director, New South Wales Pre-Trial Diversion of Offenders Program (Cedar Cottage) Submitted by Jessica Pratley (3176220) 308| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 Certificate of Originality I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment is made in the text. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, even though I may have received assistance from others on style, presentation and language expression. Signature: __________________________ Student‟s Name: Jessica Pratley 309| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Associate-Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty for her continuous support throughout the year. I am also grateful to Dale Tolliday, Karen Parsons, and the staff at Cedar Cottage for their guidance and assistance. Many thanks to Kathryn Wakeley for her support and help with coding the data; the data collection would not have been completed without assistance from Sophie Purcell, Luke Brabant, Patrycza Someone, and Thea Whatsit. The NSW Police provided invaluable data from their files. Thanks to Annie Cossins for helping me establish the levels of intrusiveness. 310| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 David A. Wolfe Editor-in-Chief Child Abuse & Neglect Dear Mr Wolfe, Please find attached a manuscript for review prior to submission to your edited journal. This study was supervised by the University of New South Wales alongside the New South Wales Pre-Trial Diversion of Offenders Program (Cedar Cottage). The study investigated self-disclosure in intra- familial child sex offenders. This manuscript has not been previously published, and is not under simultaneous review. Please feel free to contact me if you require further information. I look forward to receiving your feedback. Kind regards, Jessica Pratley [email protected] 311| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 Running Head: INCREASES IN DISCLOSURE Increases in disclosure by intra-familial child sex offenders. Jessica Pratley University of New South Wales 312| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 Abstract Acceptance of intra-familial child sex offenders into a treatment program generally requires that the offender admit and accept responsibility for the crimes with which he was charged. Once this level of disclosure has been reached, it is rare for him to be challenged regarding other offences that he may have committed. However, anecdotal clinical reports describe these offenders as disclosing a higher level of abuse than that provided by the victim. This study built on the limited empirical research on this topic. Participants were 67 males accepted into treatment at the NSW Pre-Trial Diversion of Offenders Program (Cedar Cottage) between 1989 and 2003. 43 participants successfully completed the treatment program while 24 participants breached or withdrew from the program. Twenty-two percent of participants disclosed victims beyond the individual for whom they were referred to the program. All offenders revealed significantly more details regarding their offending behaviour, regarding victim age when offending began, the duration and frequency of offending, the number of locations where abuse occurred, and the range and intrusiveness of abusive acts committed. Participants who completed the program did not disclose more than those who failed to complete the program. The level of disclosure provided did not impact on recidivism. These results suggest that the extent and nature of abuse by intra-familial child sex offenders are underestimated in the early stages of detection, and that refusal of offenders into treatment programs based on denial and minimisation is a practice that needs to be reviewed. Key words: incest, sexual abuse, child sex offenders, disclosure 313| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 Increases in Self-Disclosure by Intra-Familial Child Sex Offenders The proclivity of many child sex offenders to deny their offences is not disputed in the literature. The same body of empirical literature indicates that denial can be decreased with treatment (Marshall, Serran, Marshall, & Fernandez, 2005). However, acceptance into a treatment program often requires that the offender admit and accept responsibility for the crimes with which he2 has been charged. Once this level of disclosure has been reached, it is rare for him to be challenged regarding other offences that he may have committed. Whether an offender has fully disclosed the extent of his abusive behaviour is indeterminate, due to a dearth of corroborating evidence. Disclosure among incest offenders is particularly low, due to the secretive nature of the abuse. In families where intra-familial sexual abuse has occurred, there are factors present that are not an issue when abuse has been perpetrated by a stranger or acquaintance. Where the offender is the main source of income, the consequences of removing him from the family can have a significant negative impact on the family‟s living arrangements and lifestyle. When siblings who have not been abused are present, they can pressure the child victim to let their father return to the home. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for mothers to feel torn in her loyalties towards her child and her partner. The child victim often experiences ambivalence too, in their relationship with the offender being defined by love and positive affection in some circumstances, and abuse in others (Herman, 1981). For these reasons and others, there is a high risk that child victims will refuse to testify against their abusers, requiring the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop the charges against the offender. In 2006, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) reported that in 13.6% of all cases in the Supreme or District Court involving at least one count of a 2 Because the majority of sexual offenders are male, and all of the participants in this study are men, offenders shall be referred to in the male gender. 314| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 sexual assault against a child, the charges were dropped (most frequently due to applications by the Crown for no further proceedings), and in 5.7% of cases, the accused failed to appear. In half of the cases, the accused pleaded guilty. Of those cases that went to trial, 45.2% of the offenders were acquitted of all charges, while 54.7% were found guilty of at least one charge (BOCSAR, 2007a). Considering these statistics, for offenders against whom the evidence is not strong, chances are high that the charges will be dropped if they can convince the child victim to retract their statement, or if the case proceeds to trial, that they will be acquitted. In sum, incentives for them to deny all charges in these circumstances are strong. Of those offenders who were found guilty between 2002 and 2006, approximately 30% did not receive custodial sentences (BOCSAR, 2007b). There is a high risk associated with returning incest offenders to the home with no conviction, or of a sentence to a prison term without treatment (Brown, Farrier, Egger, McNamara, & Steel, 2006). For this reason, in 1989 the Pre-Trial Diversion of Offenders Act 1985 became operational. Offenders sentenced under this Act enter a treatment program rather than be incarcerated. Upon referral to the Pre-Trial Diversion Program, offenders are encouraged to provide a full disclosure of their abusive conduct. There is an initial eight week assessment period throughout which the Director of the program determines if the referred individual is suitable for the program, and the man who has been referred assesses the program for its ability to suit his requirements. Legal proceedings are adjourned until the assessment period is over and the referral is either accepted or rejected. If participants disclose further information regarding their offending behaviour during this assessment period, they are encouraged to provide an updated statement to the police, and any offences disclosed within this period are dealt with under the Pre-Trial Diversion Program legislation. Once the assessment period ends, further offences that are revealed are reported to the police (by either the program participant or the therapist), and, if new charges are laid, they are addressed upon the participant‟s successful completion or breach of the program. Program participants are informed about these limits to confidentiality within which the program operates. 315| P a g e SWAHS Evaluation Report 2009 The mixed message sent to offenders at this stage is striking: as a prerequisite to acceptance into the program, the offender must plead guilty to all charges, and provide an account of the abuse that matches, if not exceeds, the victim‟s statement. Acceptance into the program is not guaranteed. Accused persons are likely to weigh the low likelihood of conviction, coupled with a strong chance of not being incarcerated, against the certain outcome that will follow a guilty plea and disclosures that exceed the victim‟s statement. Offenders who plead guilty face not only legal consequences, but social consequences such as stigmatisation, loss of friends and employment opportunities, and family breakdown (O'Donohue & Letourneau, 1993).

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