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Japan Studies Sex Offender Treatment in Canada

BY Bill Rankin, Communications Officer, Communications and Citizen Engagement

(December 2006)

Photo: Bill Rankin

Japanese film crew members Tomoo Sono and Makoto Takakura speak with CSC Senior Legal Counsel Michel Laprade. The crew was interested to learn that the treatment of any offender in Canada has its legal foundation in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Recently, federal sex offender programs were the focus of a Japanese documentary film crew that visited the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (known as NHK) toured Millhaven and Warkworth institutions and National Headquarters to interview authorities and gain insight into the assessment and treatment of sex offenders in the federal correctional system.

The visit was sponsored by the Japanese Department of Justice in response to a public outcry over the growing number of sex-related crimes in Japan in the last decade. NHK, Japan’s sole public broadcaster, intends to share its Canadian findings with Japanese government officials and aired a special presentation to their television audience in November 2005.

“We were surprised to learn how many resources are dedicated to your efforts,” commented NHK film producer Makoto Takakura in an interview at National Headquarters in Ottawa. “Canada’s federal sex offender programs are so highly structured, detailed and in-depth. You employ so many specialized staff — psychologists, psychiatrists, case workers, parole officers. It is impressive.”

At Warkworth Institution, the crew interviewed Dr. Ed Peacock, Coordinator, Sexual Behaviour Clinic, witnessed a mock group therapy session and spoke with an inmate who is soon to be released. They wanted to know what the inmate had gained from his program and how he would apply those lessons in the community while on conditional release.

As part of this same initiative, the Japanese Justice Department funded a trip to the cities of Tokyo and Osaka by Dr. Bruce Malcolm, Acting National Manager, Sex Offender Programs, to present findings on the benefits of the Service’s treatment programs. Malcolm became the subject of considerable media attention and maintained a hectic schedule during his stay.

The Japanese government sent a delegation of researchers and prison officials to Canada in late 2005 to learn more about sex offender treatment programs. Their itinerary included stops at Millhaven, Bath and Pittsburgh institutions and the Regional Treatment Centre in Kingston. ♦