Women Who Sexually Offended (WSO) a protocol for assessment and intervention

1. Definition

A woman who sexually offended is defined as a woman offender under federal jurisdiction who has:

1. been convicted of a sexual offence; and/or
2. been convicted of a non-sexual offence that has sexual motivation (such as a murder that included sexual assault or common assault that was plea bargained from sexual assault); and/or
3. admitted to a sexual offence for which she has not been convicted.

*Prostitution related offences are not considered sexual offences for the purpose of this Protocol.

2. Identification

As per Commissioner's Directive 705-5 Supplementary Intake Assessments, the Intake Parole Officer will refer newly admitted women offenders who meet the above noted definitions, to a psychologist for a Specialized Sex Offender Assessment (SSOA).

Subsequent to the Offender Intake Assessment (OIA) and the SSOA any woman offender who meets the above noted definitions will be identified to National Headquarters, Women Offender Sector as a sex offender under 1 (a), 1 (b) or 1 (c).

Each Assistant Warden, Interventions (AWI) at the women offender institutions is responsible for implementing a process at their site whereby all WSO are identified to the Women Offender Sector at National Headquarters.

3. Assessment

As per CD 705-5 paragraph 7, supplementary assessments must be completed within the first 30 days of admission.

The psychologist completing the SSOA will follow the guidelines outlined in CD 705-5 Supplementary Intake Assessments, paragraphs 15 to 18.

The psychologist completing the SSOA will also take into account the following:

Psychological tests validated with women offender populations may be used to provide information on:

• Mental ability (e.g. learning disabilities, reading level and or level of cognitive functioning);
• Personality;
• Neuro-psychological functioning (carried out by a qualified specialist);
• Attitudes and cognitive distortions; and
• Treatment targets;

The current sexual offence(s) including the gender and ages of victims and relationship to victim(s);

The typology to inform treatment targets;

Involvement with a co-perpetrator and the nature of that relationship;

Current relationships with intimate partner and/or children especially if the child or children were victims;

Use of alcohol and/or drugs as part of the criminal offence;

Behavioural assessments based on clinical observations from the psychologist and staff members and the offender's self-monitoring reports.

4. Consultation

Consultation with National Headquarters and with other psychologists who intervene with women who sexually offended is available on request. The assessing or treating psychologist can seek advice from other psychologists who intervene with women who sexually offended via a Manager, Interventions & Policy in the Women Offender Sector.

5. Roles & Responsibilities

The Parole Officer assigned to complete the OIA is responsible for requesting a SSOA as soon as possible after the identification of a woman who sexually offended as per paragraph 1 Definition.

A psychologist is responsible for completing the SSOA.

The Parole Officer who completes the OIA is responsible for completing the Correctional Plan and for making the referral to the appropriate level of programming based on risk level.

The Correctional Intervention Board (CIB) makes the final decision on programming for each WSO.

The trained program facilitator (Correctional Program Officer or Aboriginal Correctional Program Officer)is responsible for consulting the psychologist attached to the WSOP and conducting the initial interview, administering the pre and post assessment battery, delivering the correctional program and individual contact sessions, organising individual contact sessions with the psychologist attached to the Program and/or an Elder for Aboriginal participants and completing a post program report.

The Parole Officer and the Primary Worker manage the case and provide follow up and updates at critical moments in the sentence.

If psychiatric or health careissues emerge, a psychiatrist or nurse may be consulted as an adjunct member of the case management team.

In the case of Aboriginal women who sexually offended, the Aboriginal liaison officer and/or the Elder should be permanent members of the case management team.

Other Program facilitators will be included in the case management team when the offender takes part in other recommended correctional programs.

A Manager, Interventions & Policy from the Women Offender Sector facilitates information sharing at the national, regional, local and inter jurisdictional levels across the country.

The offender is expected to participate in the assessment and intervention process to the full extent of her abilities.

6. Women's Sex Offender Program (WSOP)

The WSOP is part of the Continuum of Care and the Circle of Care (for Aboriginal women offenders) and is offered in replacement of the moderate intensity program for those women identified as having sexually offended and assessed as moderate risk to re-offend and as a high intensity program for those women identified as having sexually offended who are assessed as high risk if sentence length allows for completion of two programs.

As a prerequisite to the WSOP, women identified as having sexually offended and as high risk will need to complete the moderate intensity program component of Women Offender Correctional Programs (WOCP) or the Aboriginal WOCP (AWOCP). The WSOP provides the third or fourth point of contact with the women depending on their level of risk as assessed at Intake. The Program Intake Interview is the first point and the Women's Engagement Program or the Aboriginal Engagement Program is the second.

The Program is designed to be delivered by an experienced and trained correctional program officer or an Aboriginal correctional program officer with the support of a psychologist who has also completed the initial training for the WSOP. The Program may also be Elder assisted for Aboriginal women offenders.

The WSOP consists of 59, 2.5 hour sessions, organised into 7 Modules to be delivered at a frequency of 4 to 6 sessions per week, including individual contact sessions. The final session in each module is a self-management session in which the participant is given the opportunity to develop a self-management plan to improve her ability to manage high-risk situations that have the potential to lead to sexual offending, violent offending or other types of offending. The Program targets not only sexual offending but other problematic behaviours linked to violent offending and general offending.

The Program is delivered by experienced (have delivered other women offender correctional programs) and trained (for delivery of the WSOP) correctional program officers or Aboriginal correctional program officers with the support of a psychologist trained in the WSOP.

A psychologist must be attached to the Program to support participants who are completing the Program. For Aboriginal participants, an Elder should also be attached to the Program for the same purpose.

The psychologist, the program facilitator and the Elder make up a multidisciplinary intervention team.

If there is more than one woman who has sexually offended in an institution at any one time, group delivery should be the preferred option.

Special care should be given to match level of risk with programming intensity as over programming can be detrimental to the offender.

Regular conference calls to discuss program delivery will be made available to program facilitators and psychologists attached to the Program. Elders may also attend conference calls.

The Modules consist of the following:

1. Context of Offending

This Module is intended to increase awareness of the context of not only sexual offending but also violent offending and other types of criminal behaviour. The purpose is to engage participants in thinking about their past behaviour and what they want for their future. Participants will also have the opportunity to identify the strengths they have that will help them change.

2. Beliefs and Personal Standards

In this Module, participants are invited to examine their personal standards, their beliefs and their consequent behaviour. They learn to use a model to help restructure the beliefs they hold that support sexual offending and they learn to identify harmful thoughts (distortions) and replace them with more helpful thoughts.

3. Emotion Management

The Program has a strong focus on helping participants explore how their sexual offending, their use of violence and their general offending patterns may be linked to management of their emotions or to difficulties in recognising and managing some specific emotions. Participants will learn to identify and recognise emotions and practice skills to regulate their behaviour.

4. Sexuality

The Module on sexuality is designed to guide participants in the understanding of a continuum of healthy sexual behaviour. Participants will develop an understanding of sex, sexuality, intimacy, and healthy boundaries. They will identify sexual fantasies and practice disputing core beliefs linked to sexual offending. They will also learn and practice managing sexual arousal.

5. Communication

This Module is aimed at empowering participants to manage their lives by making informed and responsible choices. Empowerment is linked to a person's ability to regulate their behaviour by using skills that bring them closer to achieving their goals. The Module aims to help participants develop communication skills that will help them develop and maintain healthy relationships with the people they care about.

6. Relationships

Relationships are an important risk factor for women offenders. Because women value their relationships with intimate partners, children, family, and friends, their decision making is strongly influenced by the presence of others in their lives that they value. Module content includes relevant concepts linked to domestic abuse as women who have sexually offended are often involved in abusive relationships. The Module also includes sessions on the role of a mother in aiding her children to develop healthy boundaries and remain safe.

7. Community Functioning

This last Module of the Program is intended to help participants reflect on self, lifestyle, and choices they have made and how they can make different choices. The different sessions include a variety of perspectives to guide their reflection and encourage them to live a balanced lifestyle where they can be independent and personally responsible for their own well being.

Successful completion is measured by completion of the seven modules, progress against the Program goals, institutional behaviour, and completion of a detailed self-management plan.

April 2012