ATSA Conference 2010

November 12, 2010 |
Valor

Program cover for ATSA Conference 2010

In October, CALCASA participated in the 2010 Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. This conference was designed for treatment providers who work with sex offenders and abusers. The conference featured many workshops for victim advocates, law enforcement, and other public safety officials who are also highly involved in sex offender management and sexual abuse prevention and searching for the newest evidence-based systems to deal with this growing and complex criminal population.

Plenary speakers presented on a variety of issues throughout the conference:
Mary P. Koss, Ph.D. discussed “Individualizing Justice for Sexual Assault” which focused on individualized redress and rehabilitation for juvenile and adult sexual assault. Also, the impact on perpetrators/responsible parties and survivor/victims were reviewed.
Raymond Knight, Ph.D. gave an outstanding presentation on primary prevention titled “Transforming Prevention and Intervention: What Guidance Does Etiological Research on Rape Provide?” His presentation discussed how “research on the prevention of aggression and impulsivity has suggested that prevention programs yield superior outcomes when they target risk factors that are causative rather than simply correlative.”
Larry Magid, Ed.D., co-director of ConnectSafely.org, and internet safety advocate focused on “Internet Safety 3.0: Keeping Youth Safe on the Living Internet” where he focused on the real risks of the ever-evolving internet that now includes “cyber bullying, sexting and peer harassment — sexual and otherwise.”
The conference’s closing speakers was CALCASA’s former executive director, Suzanne Brown-McBride, who now serves as Deputy Director of the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments. She presented on “Practical Alchemy and the Transformation of the Public Safety Agenda” and concentrated on “practical tools and approaches that advocates for public safety can utilize to sustain through the crisis of the short-term and lay the foundation for long-term change.”
Other highlights from the conference included a new public policy survey from the Center for Sex Offender Management that resulted in a surprising number of contradictions among the general public’s concerns regarding sex offender managemente.
ATSA can provide your community with information on how to better manage your sex offender population. Visit their site for more information.