How to Establish and Maintain Security in the Treatment of Sexual Offenders

The title of the 8th conference of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders (IATSO) held in Athens, Greece, October 6-9, 2004, was Sex Offending is Everybody’s Business. In the opening address of the conference, reported here, this general motto is first reflected in a historical perspective before the question of how security in the treatment of sexual offenders may be established and maintained is discussed on a number of different levels. These levels are (1) practical ones, listing what IATSO has been and will be doing in pursuit of establishing and maintaining security; (2) political ones reflecting the context in which such endeavors are undertaken; and (3) psychotherapeutic ones.