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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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5/5/95                  Janet McCoy

AU EXPERT: CORRECTION'S CLOSING OF SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM UNWISE

      AUBURN -- The closing of Alabama's only sex offender 
rehabilitation program by the state Department of Correction is "unwise 
and short-sighted," says an Auburn University psychologist who is 
nationally respected for his research on sexual assault.
      Barry Burkhart, a professor in the Department of Psychology, says 
closing the program will mean that inmates will be put back on the street 
with no rehabilitation and will likely commit the same violent crimes again.
      "Without treatment, sex offenders have extraordinarily high rates 
of recidivism, but with treatment, particularly comprehensive treatment, 
recidivism rates are much lower," he says.
      "Within the past decade, behavioral science has made tremendous 
strides in the diagnosis and treatment of sexually deviant behavior," 
says Burkhart, who researches both victim and criminal issues of sexual 
crimes.
      "It's incomprehensible to me, and unconscionable to me, that 
after spending the time and money to develop an effective program the 
state of Alabama would just close it," says Burkhart, who was 
instrumental in the development of the program and has worked in an 
advisory capacity since its establishment.
       "By far the most difficult part of developing a treatment 
program in a correctional facility is the initial phase." 
      The state's sex offender rehabilitation program, located at the 
Bullock County Correctional Facility in Union Springs, has been very 
successful, says Burkhart.
       In fact, of the 34 prisoners who have completed the voluntary 
program in the past seven years, only one has returned to prison for a 
sex crime conviction, he said.
       "Now that it is working and is effective, it's unwise to close 
the program and lose the time, money and energy which has been invested,Ó 
says Burkhart. "It's a comprehensive, state-of-the-art program and one in 
which the state of Alabama could be proud."
      Burkhart says another cost involved in the closing of the program 
is the "human factor."
      "Much of my research and professional work addresses the effects 
of child sexual abuse and rape on the lives and children and adults who 
have been victimized," he says. "The effects are devastating.
      "I don't know if the human cost can been fully measured or 
described . . . but it will be great," he says. One in five women are 
victims of sex crimes in this country.
      "Not treating sex offenders while they are in custody will doom 
many more innocent people to be the victims of untreated sex offenders," 
Burkhart says. "There can be no justification for a decision which would 
lead to this human cost.
      "There are two things we know about sex offenders," he says. "One 
is that they commit multiple crimes . . .  sex offenders are vary rarely 
single incident offenders.
      "And, we know that sex offenders  tend to have a chronic problem, 
that is it's not something that just goes away by itself."
      Burkhart says another issue not considered by the state is that 
because the program was voluntary, it leaves a lot of criminals who want 
help without a way to get it. "These men want to be treated and they have 
invested themselves into this very, very difficult program.
      "The motto of the program, what every man would see each morning, 
was 'No More Victims' and that's why they were there, and it's why the 
program needs to be reinstated.
      "We don't need, needlessly, to make more victims, and I'm afraid 
that's what this (decision) does," he said.
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may95:burkhart
CONTACT: Burkhart, 334/844-6476.