The treatment of sex offenders in the Republic of Ireland

This report is an examination of the current practice and policy in the Republic of\ud Ireland for the assessment, treatment and management of those that perpetrate sexual\ud abuse and violence. This is considered in the light of international best practice, and\ud specifically compared to the policy and practice in Northern Ireland, to illuminate the\ud situation in the Republic. A core concern that emerged is the standard\ud implementation of intensive sex offender therapy within a prison regime, and\ud therefore, this is examined, in an attempt to progress and advance the management of\ud sex offenders. Consequently, this review includes theory, research and statistics\ud pertaining to the prison regime, as well as an examination of alternatives, such as\ud secure, therapeutic, residential settings.\ud A series of semi-structured interviews were carried out with the key stakeholders in\ud the design and implementation of policy and practice for the management of sex\ud offenders in the Republic of Ireland. Through a process of reflective equilibrium, the\ud data from these interviews was used to examine how the respondents interpret their\ud respective roles, their understanding of the current situation and the issues involved.\ud On coding the data key themes emerged.\ud Considering the practice of implementing intensive sex offender treatment within a\ud prison regime, this study found that the introduction of modem psycosocial\ud rehabilitation has not been matched by adequate alterations to the regime,\ud environment, training, or otherwise within the Irish Prison Service, which can only\ud negatively impact on the outcomes of the treatment carried out there. An alternative\ud to this has been recommended.\ud This research found that there is a gap in the provision of community based\ud programmes, identified as necessary for those sex offenders that never enter the\ud criminal justice system, as well as for the continued support for the successful\ud reintegration of sex offenders leaving prison. There is a need for interagency\ud protocol and collaboration on this issue between the Department of Health and the\ud Department of Justice and Law Reform, in line with best practice