Enhancing rehabilitation practices: Over- and undertreatment in a German outpatient sexual offender program: Monitoring degrees of treatment based on standardized risk levels

Background: Effective reintegration into the community requires tailored treatment programs that address criminogenic needs. Ultimately, these efforts are essential to maintaining public safety. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether our outpatient program met the criminogenic needs of participants. Method: Between 2008 and 2023, treatment needs of a sample of 955 male sexual offenders were assessed using the Static-99 tool and standardized risk levels. Results: A significant 63.5% of the offenders exhibited treatment needs. Among the total population, 56% were undertreated, 14% overtreated, and 30% adequately treated. Therapy in sociotherapeutic facilities had a significant influence on over- and undertreatment. Conclusion: The degrees of treatment based on standardized risk levels are proving to be very valuable in forensic outpatient care, underscoring an urgent requirement for more individualized treatment strategies. Sociotherapeutic interventions play a key role in reducing undertreatment. peerReviewed publishedVersion