Subprojects

Project management: Dr. Peter Fromberger / Prof. Dr. J. L. Müller

The research association »@myTabu« aims to develop a therapist-based online-intervention for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision and to check its effectiveness. Furthermore, the intervention’s economic advantage over traditional approaches will be evluated. Individuals from all German Federal States can take Part in the study. The study follows a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial during the project’s period. Thus, a cost-effective and scientifically checked online-intervention, that is already integrated in probation service and supervision of conduct, could be available at the end of the project. Legal and ethical guidelines have been developed for routine application as well as a online-based risk-assessment system. In the University Medical Centre Göttingen’s project the online-intervention will be designed and evaluated. The project supports the successful reintegration of individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision in society and increases the protection of children from further assaults.

Project management: Prof. Dr. Martin Rettenberger / Dr. Sonja Etzler

Online-based interventions for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision are a cost-efficient expansion of well-established treatments to reduce the probability of individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision to re-offend. Before such an online-intervention can be comprehensively established, their effectiveness has to be empirically proven. This proof requires measurement procedures that can accurately measure the therapy’s effect. Online survey instruments possess some advantages. Striking behaviours are detected directly and without time delay. Such surveys can be realized frequently und with low costs because of their simple application, what enables a complete process evaluation. Furthermore, studies have showed that offenders report online very openly so far undetected deviant behaviours. The study aims therefore to develop three measurment instruments, that measure sexual offender’s fall-back risk as well as the positive change by the online-intervention. These instruments will be applied on the one hand to evaluate the effectiveness of the online-intervention. On the other hand, these are the first instruments of this kind that enable a economic measurement of fall-back risk by self-report. All measures of probation service and supervision of conduct persist beyond that and will be implemented without changes.

Project management: Prof. Dr. David Daniel Ebert
Study coordination: Dr. Claudia Buntrock

The project’s aim consists of the development, piloting and evaluation of factors concerning usability and practicability of a online-intervention for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision. Already existing treatment programs for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision will be adapted for online use in the development of the intervention. Moreover, the online-intervention’s economical benefit is to be evaluated in a health economics evaluation by means of a analytical model. The model’s input data will be extracted from the randomized placebo-controlled clinical study and from the experimental procedures that were conducted in the project as well as from available literature.

Project management: Prof. Dr. Anja Schiemann

The clinical study is covered in manner of data privacy, civil law, penal and ethical matters by the legal supervision of the technical and practical design of the online-intervention for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision as well as the legal supervision of technology and online-coaches. The implementation of workshops  as well as the creation of guidelines is essential in the light of the supervision of a potentially high-risk group consisting of individuals who sexually abused children and individuals, who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision and are discharged from prison or hospital order treatment. These guarantee that the coaches are able to conduct a penal estimation in the area of conflict between professional secrecy and disclosure requirement. Furthermore, it has to be warranted by means of a correponding risk management, that population’s safety is not endangered. Thereby, the legal supervision establishes legal security for protagonists in the overall project and follows especially changes of legal situation and implications by relevant court decision during the study’s course. On the other hand, the subproject deals with a, up to now in such a manner not existing, juridically foundation of prospektive online-interventions in the realm of sexual offenders with a risk of fall-back. A corresponding manual, which contains guidelines, recommendations regarding behaviour and reporting procedure’s regularizations, is supposed to make this possible in the future. The legal embedding of the online-intervention in the concept of supervision of conduct within the framework of criminal code is also unexplored up to now. Here, recommendations de lege ferenda will be developed in a further step, that enable a online-intervention beside the classical instruments of supervision of conduct and probation service.

Project management: Prof. Dr. Peer Briken

Sexual child abuse is one of the most wearing events for children during their development. Treatment programs for child abusers are able to significantly reduce the risk to re-offend. Meantime, there are a multitude of treatment programs for prevention of child abuse (primary prevention) available in Germany but professional interventions for for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision are a gap in health care in Germany. The costs of professionally executed probation service and supervision of conduct are very high. Online-based interventions can cost-effectively close this gap in health care and are a effective alternative, especially in rural areas. Consequently, the project aims to develop a therapist-based online-intervention for individuals who sexually abused children and individuals who consumed child sexual exploitation material under community supervision and evaluate it concerning their effectiveness. Modules of the online-intervention will be developed in the project in cooperation with the project partners. Futhermore, the UKE takes on the online-coache’s supervision.