Development of Specialized
Treatment of Sex Offenders in
Bulgaria
Andrey Momchilov
IGA, Bulgaria
Georgi Kirilov
Sofia University
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
Prison
Probation
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…
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
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)
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
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)
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
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
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
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 
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
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.
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
What next?
WORK WITH
OFFENDERS
Phase I
Phase II
Assessment
Psychological survey, OASYS
general asssessment
Specialized sex offender risk
assessment (STATIC 99-R, Acute
2007)
Implementation
Prison based pilot program
Prison based program, community
based pilot program, link between
prison and probation, mobile
crisis intervention, pilot additional
interventions (CoSA etc.)
Institutional
arrangements
Formal cooperation w/ prison
Informal regional
multidisciplinary teams
Formal cooperation w/ prison and
probation
Formalisation protocol based on
UK's MAPPA standarts
Technical implementation
quality evaluation achievement of objectives
Program quality evaluation system
development - reconviction, risk
variations
Expert supervision of
intervention
Expert supervision of
interventions
Evaluation
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”
Thank you for your
attention
www.iga-bg.org
office@iga-bg.org
georgi_kirilov@abv.bg
17.3.2011
Conference “No More Victims!”