Development of Specialized Treatment of Sex Offenders in Bulgaria

1. Development of Specialized Treatment of Sex Offendersin Bulgaria Andrey MomchilovIGA, Bulgaria Georgi Kirilov Sofia University Conference “No More Victims!”

2. PrisonProbation 2005 – start of reforms 2005 – probation service established 2006 – structured risk assessment introduced (OASYS) 2007 – program approach adopted 2009 – 7 programs introduced 2010 – piloting electronic monitoring and pre-sentence reports …so the time had come to pay closer attention to sex offenders… Conference “No More Victims!”

3. In 2010 a survey of young sex offenders commissioned by IGA and funded by the private OAK Foundation, was completed Target group were young male sex offenders in all Bulgarian prisons. Of the 700+ sex offenders in Bulgaria, approx. 20 % are of age below 30 years, and 117 have been subjected to the survey. The survey was conducted in all prisons in close cooperation with DG expert personnel, by Prof. Vladimir Velinov and Ass. Prof. Georgi Kirilov (Sofia University) Conference “No More Victims!”

4. Demographic and criminological data Age, ethnicity, type of crime, victim data, previous convictions, details of the crime Sexological data Previous convictions for sex offences, sexuality, history and attitude towards sex, Psychological data (Buss-Durkee) (Eysenck) (SPQ) Criminological personality parameters Attitude towards the crime, the sentence, the victim, authority, the society etc. Risk Assessment (OASYS) (SORAG) Conference “No More Victims!”

5. Key findings (1) Age – below 18 16,83 %, 18-25 64,35 % Ethnicity – Roma 43,59 %, Bulgarian 32,48 %, Turkish 23,93 % Previous convictions – 80,82 %, convicted as juvenile – 46,78 % Previous convictions for sex offences – 18,96 % 85,55 % do not understand the harm caused to the victim\ 74,77 % do not accept the sentence 82,14 % do not understand the motives leading them to the offence Poor interpersonal relation skills, poor problem solving skills, 65,45 % aggressive, 75 % impulsive Conference “No More Victims!”

6. Key findings (2) 41,9 % have not been raised by the biological parents 31,3 % have been victims of abuse in their childhood Lack of pro-social coping strategies Dysfunctional core beliefs about the self and about the society Risk assessment – high 39,1 % medium 45,2 % For more information and results, please contact us  Conference “No More Victims!”

7. Pilot prison based program for • treatment of sex offenders • Two types of sessions • Individual – motivation and psychotherapeutic sessions • Group – group interaction, cognitive reconstructing, • communication skills, CBT model, focus on the offence and • harm awareness, functional coping skills, risk management, • solving intimate relations problems, close of group work. Conference “No More Victims!”

8. What next? Conference “No More Victims!”

9. Thank you for your attention www.iga-bg.orgoffice@iga-bg.org georgi_kirilov@abv.bg Conference “No More Victims!”