Responsivity issues in the treatment of sexual offenders.

Andrews and Bonta (2003) have presented a model of effective correctional programming focusing on risk, need, and responsivity factors for a general criminal population. When applied to sexual offenders, the first two issues (risk assessment and treatment targets such as cognitive distortions) have received a great deal of research attention. However, little attention has been paid to responsivity issues: those factors that influence the extent to which clients benefit, or fail to benefit, from treatment programs.