Sexual Abuse: Family Education and Treatment Program (SAFE-T)
Life periods served
Where the program was applied
Country of application
Description

This is a community-based care and treatment program for sexually assaulted adolescents and their families (including child victims of sexual violence within the family). The program aims to assess, treat, and provide care to adolescents by means of cognitive behavioral and relapse prevention interventions.
The program addresses relevant issues, such as denial, accountability, inappropriate sexual behaviors and desires, and victim empathy, applying an individualized approach with the participants and their families with a focus on developing social and emotional competencies, as well as trust and intimacy, building self-esteem, and training in emotional regulation and expression. The intervention includes individual, family, and group sessions, and lasts 16 months.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation revealed that, after a 20-year follow-up period, intervention participants showed a significantly lower likelihood of being charged with sexual recidivism, nonsexual violent recidivism, nonviolent recidivism, or any type of recidivism, compared with similar control cases, who did not access the program intervention [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Worling, J. R., Litteljohn, A. & Bookalam, D. (2010). 20-year prospective follow-up study of specialized treatment for adolescents who offended sexually. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 28(1), 46–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.912