Brenda L. Burchard’s scientific contributions

For over two decades, the Safer Society Foundation1 (SSF) has tracked and reported on the development of specialized sexual abuser treatment program models and methods. In its ninth and most recent report on practices in the field, SSF examined data collected from programs throughout the United States, and for the first time, from Canadian programs (McGrath, Cumming, Burchard, Zeoli, & Ellerby, 2010). In this article, we summarize the results of this newest survey for programs serving adult male sexual abusers. To examine these results in more detail or to examine survey results about sexual abuser programs treating other populations - adult females, and male and female adolescents and children - the reader can view and download the full report at no cost at www.safersociety.org.

This report is a summary of the Canadian findings of the 2009 Safer Society Survey: Current Practices and Emerging Trends in Sexual Abuser Management (McGrath, Cumming, Burchard, Zeoli, & Ellerby, 2010). Copies of the full report are available for download, free of charge, from www.safersociety.org. Specialized treatment for sexual offending is a relatively new field, having its origins in the late 1970s. Early programs used a trial and error method of determining what worked until research could provide additional insight into the aetiology of sexual offending and effective treatment of it. To help programs exchange information and to build on one another’s successes, Safer Society Foundation began surveying United States programs in 1986. Since then the survey has been conducted every two to six years. The survey provides a wide-angle snapshot of assessment and treatment practices which can now be compared with research findings to determine whether they reflect current best practices. In 2009, the survey was conducted for the ninth time and for the first time included Canadian programs.