The BME male sex offender in prison: overrepresentation and under-participation

This paper is derived and developed from two recent papers that I prepared jointly with two colleagues (Cowburn, Lavis, & Walker, 2008b; Cowburn, Lavis, & Walker, 2008a). This paper uses and re-works some of this material. The paper will first present a demographic profile of the male sex offender population in the prisons of England and Wales. It will then present evidence in relation to the non-participation of the Black minority ethnic (BME) group of offenders in the Prison Service’s Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP). Following this data relating to BME sex offenders who have participated in the SOTP will also be discussed. The paper will then move onto develop a theory to understand some aspects of this non-participation and to suggest ways in which the participation of BME sex offenders in the SOTP may be encouraged and developed.