The treatment has borrowed methods from drug and addictive disorder treatment, especially in pre venting relapse. Treatment is invaluable, the men say, in both turning around sex offenders and not making new victims, both adult and child. In fact, Quigley said that for offenders who have completed treatment in prison, only 5 percent return to the institution because they re-offended sexually. Nationally those numbers are higher. However, the men caution that there are as many failures in treatment as successes.
Some clients refuse or drop out of treatment altogether.
However, it is hope and capacity for change that keeps the therapists working. They are also driven by the belief that changing sex offenders' behavior will save future victims. Lemons also has conducted sessions of victimoffender reconciliation. The aim is for victims to face their fears and feel empowered while the offender takes responsibility and develops empathy for his victim. The men also are cheered because they feel that the criminal justice system has responded well when it comes to sentencing sex offenders.