Sex-offender therapy is waste of resources

The discussion about sex-offender treatment reminds me of the question: How many social workers does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but it really has to want to change. Utah's criminal justice system is different. Judges and the Board of Pardons can order sex-offender treatment even if an offender doesn't want it.

The Legislature has its work cut out on this one. Maybe it could start by asking two fundamental questions: Is the Department of Corrections in the business of running sex-offender treatment programs or is it in the business of protecting society? How does society justify paying for offenders' treatment when their victims are left to fend for themselves?

There is a growing number of sex offenders sent to prison. The Department of Corrections officials will be asking the Legislature for an additional $1.2 million for the sex offender-treatment program. According to corrections, there is a waiting list of 1,000 who have been ordered to complete the prison's program that has only 220 spaces and takes 18 months. It seems the courts and Board of Pardons have placed an undue burden on corrections and created a Catch-22.

Rather than asking for more money to do more of the same, corrections might review its sex offender-treatment program in light of its core purpose, to protect the public. Where is the justification for 18 months of treatment for the offender, when average citizens can't even afford treatment? Maybe the question Robert McNamara asked in managing the Pentagon applies here: Why use a $50 hammer to do a job when a $10 one would work just as well?

Corrections is the resting place for the problems created by the justice system, including the courts and Board of Pardons, who seem to think treatment is the answer and are quick to order sex offenders to complete a treatment program. Many in the justice system see therapy as the panacea to helping offenders whether they want it or not.

But basic to helping people is that they first have to realize they have a problem. Some professionals believe sex offenders are driven by their compulsive urges and deny they have a problem. Thus, ordering offenders to get treatment is a waste of resources. Some may simply agree to put their name on the long waiting list so they can successfully complete the 18-month program required by the Board of Pardons. Upon completion of the program, how is success measured? Should it not be that offenders stop committing sex crimes? How can that be determined in a lock-up facility?