Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2024
442. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of sex offenders who have completed mandatory group work of the total sex offender population by institution in the Irish prison system in the past five years. [21316/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, sexual violence, our understanding of it, and its assessment and treatment has evolved over time.
The Building Better Lives (BBL) programme has been delivered as the treatment programme for sexual offending since 2009 in Irish Prisons. It is based on Canada’s Rockwood model of treatment. The programme is provided over two stages; a shorter motivational group (Exploring Better Lives; EBL) and the longer term more intensive treatment group, Practicing Better Lives (PBL). Typically eight participants attend each group, so 16 in total at any one time. The programme is currently delivered in Arbour Hill Prison. Participation is not mandatory as imposed interventions are compromised in their efficacy as well as raising ethical and legal concerns.
Based on the information provided by the Irish Prison Service, the number of participants who completed the Building Better Lives programme (both EBL and PBL) in the last 5 years is as set out as follows in tabular format. It is not possible to divide this number by institution; people convicted of sexual violence have typically been accommodated in four locations including the Midlands Prison, Arbour Hill Prison, the Training Unit in Mountjoy Prison and Castlerea Prison with the majority of treatment occurring in Arbour Hill Prison.
|
Year |
No. of Participants |
|
2023 |
11 |
|
2022 * |
7 |
|
2021 * |
9 |
|
2020 * |
9 |
|
2019 |
21 |
*Covid 19 restrictions and the consequent reduction of group therapies and one to one therapy should be considered in 2020 and 2021 data where some participants may have only had the opportunity to partially engage in this treatment intervention process.
The primary reason for low participation rates is the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation, including the requirement for stability of mental health and personality, sufficient sentence length, being assessed as moderate to high risk of re-offending, and capacity to engage in group programmes. Those who deny their offence are also excluded. Those appealing their offence often deny all or part of their offending also, therefore ‘denial’ as an exclusion criteria constitutes a significant percentage of the population.
Whilst the completion of BBL tends to be a particular focus for attention, it is important to note that the figures above represent only those who have fully completed the BBL programme (both EBL and PBL). Other assessment and intervention pillars are provided by the Irish Prison Service and Probation Service for people convicted of sexual violence. As many people convicted of sexual violence do not meet criteria for BBL because of particularly complex presentations, there are various other pillars of intervention and management available, depending on the person’s strengths, needs and risks. A significant number of those who are released who do not participate in BBL are managed in this way. Interventions include:
• Individual offence focused work by Irish Prison Service Psychology / Probation Service;
• Individual or group work focused on mental health, emotional regulation or other offence related need by Irish Prison Service Psychology Service;
• Probation Service engagement inc. risk assessment and management where the individual has a Post Release Supervision Order. This includes a handover to community based Probation Officer prior to release;
• Psychology ‘Pathways to Change’ group (focuses on an introduction to risk factors);
• Engagement with prison in-reach Psychiatry for stabilisation and maintenance of mental health where a mental health diagnosis is made;
• Education and Work training;
• Integrated Sentence Management;
• Engagement with the Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders (IASIO);
• Engagement with Resettlement Services;
• Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management (SORAM);
• Safer Lives Community Sexual Violence Group Work Treatment Programme (and allied community interventions).
As the Deputy may be aware the emergence of updated research evidence, discussion with field experts, new Council of Europe recommendations and the new National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence have led to a significant review of the current BBL programme and the need to implement comprehensive revisions. A procurement process was used to secure the support required to make significant changes to the current treatment programme for sexual violence. Dr Liam Marshall (Canada) was awarded the contract to review the programme and the report has been recently submitted to the Irish Prison Service.
The Irish Prison Service is in the process of implementing these significant revisions. In 2023, two additional Senior Psychologists for Sexual Violence were recruited to join the existing Senior Psychologist and Staff Grade Psychologist to support implementation of the programme. Further recruitment is planned. A competition was held in August 2023 and a vacancy still exists for a Principal Psychologist Specialist. A Research Assistant has also been recruited on an 18 month contract to support evaluation of the programme.
Many of the emerging recommendations for change will witness a significant reduction in the barriers to treatment outlined above. They include: risk assessment at an early stage in sentence to inform sentence management and treatment options; working with people who deny and minimise their offence(s); working with people with mental disorders who have been sexually violent, and provision of treatment for people in all risk categories and with shorter sentences for better outcomes and safer communities.
