By JASB - 10 Oct 19 3:36 PM
I am not sure if others have been following the media on this topic but have a view on the following link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49973318
A snippet I will quote
****two forensic psychiatrists, Penny Brown and Callum Ross, have been so alarmed by the failings in the SOTP programme they are calling for greater oversight of new forms of treatment. This week, the Lancet Psychiatry medical journal published a paper they have written. "We want to get reassurance that government-funded policy research is subjected to the same requirements and high academic standards that are placed on everybody else and all other scientists," says Dr Brown. "The need to show that you're doing something shouldn't override the risk of actually causing harm."*****
To repeat what I have said previously, my pre-sentence report was changed from a 30 mth supervisory to a 4 year term so I could do this course; which followers will know I never did because every report said I was unsuitable for it and would cause me harm if I did participate in a course.
I should of been off the SOR now but because of the above I am on for life as who knows if 15 year stage appeals will be approved in this society we live in.
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By AB2014 - 10 Oct 19 4:15 PM
+xI am not sure if others have been following the media on this topic but have a view on the following link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49973318A snippet I will quote ****two forensic psychiatrists, Penny Brown and Callum Ross, have been so alarmed by the failings in the SOTP programme they are calling for greater oversight of new forms of treatment. This week, the Lancet Psychiatry medical journal published a paper they have written. "We want to get reassurance that government-funded policy research is subjected to the same requirements and high academic standards that are placed on everybody else and all other scientists," says Dr Brown. "The need to show that you're doing something shouldn't override the risk of actually causing harm."*****
To repeat what I have said previously, my pre-sentence report was changed from a 30 mth supervisory to a 4 year term so I could do this course; which followers will know I never did because every report said I was unsuitable for it and would cause me harm if I did participate in a course.
I should of been off the SOR now but because of the above I am on for life as who knows if 15 year stage appeals will be approved in this society we live in.
Well, none us can know how things will be in a few years' time, but maybe the tabloid editors won't rule the country by then.  Seriously, though, Unlock has some information here that might be of interest. Not so good if you're under a force with a lower approval rating, as you can't exactly shop around without moving away for a few years. Still interesting, though.
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By Thorswrath - 10 Oct 19 6:56 PM
I think the whole 'treatment' thing needs an overhaul. I attended the ISOTP course which is for internet only based offences, luckily they don't bunch you together with rapists, murderers etc.
The thing that shocked me the most and which i think is one of the most serious issues is that i waited nearly 2 years from arrest to end up on the course. In that time i had the foresight to seek out my own help, therapy with a specialist therapist which i paid for privately and 12 step program for my drug use. I think if i had not done those things of my own free will then i can't be sure that the course would have been much benefit.
Personally i found the ISOTP course to be OK. it certainly wasn't as 'intense' as the SOTP program mentioned in the article you posted. I also never got a sense of the ofences we committed (downloading indecent images) to be made 'normalised' and i feel that the vast majority of the group i was placed in realised they had caused harm and wanted to 'move on' so to speak.
I can tell you from my experience that we all had other psychological problems, anxiety, isolation, past trauma that was coped with poorly, drug abuse. yet these issues were kind of lightly touched on when i feel that to be honest one has to look at the whole picture and the pieces that make it up which means for many of us, 121 counseling and robust future planning and coping strategies. These things were covered but i do think essentially a more 'tailored for the individual' approach would actually be more beneficial.
Despite every single one of us having compulsive and addictive behaviour towards online pornography and all but one of us having had issues with it since we were way younger than the age of consent, it was never properly addressed. I mean seriously there's a room full of people who have spent hours and hours daily viewing online pornography, some since we were young teenagers yet there didn't seem to be any acknowledgement that this overexposure along with desensitisation and escalation and lack of real world intimate contact might be something that needs to be addressed in depth?
I could go on for ages about this but i worry about some of the other people who were in my group who might not have got more comprehensive treatment and advice
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By AB2014 - 15 Oct 19 8:58 AM
+xI think the whole 'treatment' thing needs an overhaul. I attended the ISOTP course which is for internet only based offences, luckily they don't bunch you together with rapists, murderers etc. The thing that shocked me the most and which i think is one of the most serious issues is that i waited nearly 2 years from arrest to end up on the course. In that time i had the foresight to seek out my own help, therapy with a specialist therapist which i paid for privately and 12 step program for my drug use. I think if i had not done those things of my own free will then i can't be sure that the course would have been much benefit. Personally i found the ISOTP course to be OK. it certainly wasn't as 'intense' as the SOTP program mentioned in the article you posted. I also never got a sense of the ofences we committed (downloading indecent images) to be made 'normalised' and i feel that the vast majority of the group i was placed in realised they had caused harm and wanted to 'move on' so to speak. I can tell you from my experience that we all had other psychological problems, anxiety, isolation, past trauma that was coped with poorly, drug abuse. yet these issues were kind of lightly touched on when i feel that to be honest one has to look at the whole picture and the pieces that make it up which means for many of us, 121 counseling and robust future planning and coping strategies. These things were covered but i do think essentially a more 'tailored for the individual' approach would actually be more beneficial. Despite every single one of us having compulsive and addictive behaviour towards online pornography and all but one of us having had issues with it since we were way younger than the age of consent, it was never properly addressed. I mean seriously there's a room full of people who have spent hours and hours daily viewing online pornography, some since we were young teenagers yet there didn't seem to be any acknowledgement that this overexposure along with desensitisation and escalation and lack of real world intimate contact might be something that needs to be addressed in depth? I could go on for ages about this but i worry about some of the other people who were in my group who might not have got more comprehensive treatment and advice
I can't say I'm surprised that an approach more tailored to individuals isn't adopted, as that would remove their economies of scale. I must say I am surprised that you're clinging to the hierarchy of offending, though. It's good that you say the offences weren't normalised, but it's not so good that you think you're somehow better than other offenders. Maybe you can ask Unlock to set up a separate section of the forum that isn't open to rapists, murderers, etc. so you don't have to be bunched together with them. Sorry for the sarcasm, but if you asked people who haven't been convicted of sexual offences, they wouldn't see the difference. Divide and rule, and all that.... 
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By JASB - 16 Jul 19 9:58 AM
Hi
This is good news to all of us that stated the Sex Offenders courses where not fit for purpose and could do more harm than good if put on them and suffered the consequences.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48998136
In 2010 I was arrested for paying for sex, unfortunately a year earlier I had paid; but unknowingly, to a female under 18yrs. Please do not divert the conversation into a discussion on "you can tell" as another client of hers was given a non-custodial sentence as his Judge (female) believed you could not tell she was; and he was convicted of more charges than me.
It took 2 years to get to sentencing me even though I admitted paying at interview.
The Probation Service pre-sentence report recommended a "supervisory sentence" so I could undertake one of these courses.
I undertook an independent psychology assessment which stated I had no underage tendencies etc and supported a non-custodial sentence.
After receiving this report the Probation officer rewrote his report saying I should have a custodial sentence - 5yrs - so I could complete a course. I was told his manager had told him to rewrite it.
Upon my being incarcerated I requested to be assessed for suitability for a course. I was assessed 14 months later as unsuitable, in fact a recommendation to undertake a "wellbeing" course after my release was given. I also received documentation that if I had had sufficient time left I would of been made Cat D.
After my release and having done no courses; the same Probation Officer had me reassessed as he wanted me to undertake one of these courses. Again the Psychologists stated I was unsuitable but recommended a "wellbeing" course to help me "forgive" myself for my quilt.
For some years I have been and am still trying to remove my SOPO conditions (as no one can say why I have them) and now seeking advice to see if I can be removed from the SOR as my sentence length was based on the time it would take for me to complete a course: that I was constantly found unsuitable for and which the Courts have agreed is a discredited course now.
Any advice??
Years on I am still trying to get someone to listen that besides the "media /political / public outcry" being discussed at the time because of other sex offences (not linked to mine)
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