4.10: Sex Offender Treatment and Civil Commitment

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Page ID: 16046

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Many sex offenders are placed on probation, with requirements that they attend a sex offender treatment program, report regularly to a probation officer, do not contact their victims, do not use the internet, and do not live or work in certain areas. Sex offender treatment programs can be inpatient (residential) or outpatient (non-residential) and generally use cognitive-behavioral therapy, counseling, and other approaches to reduce the likelihood that the person will commit another sex offense. About 20 states also have “civil commitment” programs, which place sex offenders in secure hospitals or residential treatment facilities for treatment. These offenders typically receive civil commitment only after they have finished serving a prison term for their sex offense. Offenders can be required to stay on civil commitment indefinitely, which means the programs can cost up to four times what it costs to keep an offender in prison.