Cultural Diversity & Sensitivity in Sexual Offender Treatment
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Training Description
The development of a good therapeutic relationship and group cohesion are integral to the success of sexual offender treatment, and making those connections depend on therapists’ skill in creating an environment that nurtures all members and takes into consideration all of their cultural identities and memberships, including ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, and socioeconomic status. With increased diversity among clients comes the need for therapists to conduct culturally competent assessments and treatment in order not only to address clients’ needs, but also to consider all the forces that led to their offending, could increase/decrease their risk post-treatment, and those that could help maximize healthy/adaptive functioning in the community. The presentation will focus on the usefulness of Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological as well as Sue and Sue’s multicultural competencies as applied to sexual offender work, will review the extant research in multicultural issues among sex offenders, and will provide a framework for culturally informed case conceptualization and treatment planning.
Trainer Biography
Alejandro Leguizamo, PhD received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Forensic Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He previously worked in a variety of forensic settings, including Bridgewater State Hospital and in Court Clinics in Southeastern Massachusetts. He is a former Clinical Director of the Sex Offender Treatment Program at the Massachusetts Treatment Center, where he also provided treatment to Spanish-speaking inmates and civilly committed men. He currently works at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. In addition to his academic work, he conducts evaluations and specialized treatment for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. His research focuses on multicultural factors in sex offending, predictors of psychological well-being in community samples, and factors that contribute to the decision to report, or not report, having been the victim of a sexual assault while in college among college graduates.
Learning Objectives
This training is designed to help you:
- Review Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model and how it can be used towards gaining multicultural competence
- Explore how the Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model could be used to assist in case and offense conceptualization as well as treatment planning in sexual abusers
- Discuss Sue and Sue's multicultural competence factors as they apply to work with sexual abusers
