Offender Services

Offender Programs

Alternatives to Violence

The Alternatives to Violence program includes group and individual therapy sessions, which focus on anger management skills, power and control dynamics, self-care, empathy, sensitivity to children, and communication and collaboration skills. The program emphasizes the importance of responsibility and accountability. Participants document what they learn and rehearse their new behaviors and skills in-group sessions. Participants are expected to:

• Take responsibility for violent/aggressive behavior.

• Model appropriate behavior in group and with partners.

• Use alternative behaviors (time-outs, tension reducers, anger management, learning triggers, and non-threatening communication) to resolve issues, and complete a written Violence Diversion Plan.

• Understand their style and use of violence, and the social, cultural and gender issues that led to their pattern of behavior.

• Understand how power and control dynamics operate in their lives and commit to making changes in these areas.

• Express increased empathy for their victim(s) and awareness of the impact of their behavior on others. A special emphasis is placed on each client with children doing a risk assessment of his/her own behaviors on their children, and to learn an appreciation for the needs of their children from a developmental perspective.

• Approach their current partner non-violently and in a respectful manner and to develop an array of skills designed to maintain non-abusive, collaborative relationships.

The Sex Offender Treatment Program works with court-referred adult offenders who are in need of treatment. The program is designed to reduce recidivism among sexual offenders and increase community safety. Staff members provide comprehensive, professional and effective treatment that identifies individual risk factors and closely monitors each client. Treatment includes intensive group, individual therapy and psycho-educational services, and the program uses a relapse prevention model to reduce the chances of re-offence and to increase community safety.

The goals of SOTP treatment are to help participants:

• acknowledge the full nature and extent of their sexually inappropriate behavior and/or antisocial problems

• learn to control their deviant arousal patterns

• develop victim empathy

• identify, confront and change cognitive distortions or thinking errors

• understand and intervene in their deviant cycles so that the lapses do not lead to a relapse

• learn to solve non-sexual problems in non-sexual ways

All offenders who participate in the program must continue to show progress or they are dropped from the group. Evidence of progress includes:

• physical participation

• acceptance of responsibility for offenses

• intellectual understanding of risk factors

• emotional understanding of impact of offenses

• behavior change and practice rehearsal of new skills

• assertiveness and willingness to help other group members in their learning

• periodic polygraph assessment