On behalf of the Scientific and the Local Organizing committees, we invite you to the 15th Conference of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders (IATSO) to be held in Vilnius (Lithuania) from August 28th to 31st, 2018. We are honored that it is the first time the IATSO conference will take place in an Eastern European country.
The conference topic "Successfully Implementing Sexual Offender Treatment and Management: What is Helping and what is Hindering?" is aiming to continue the debate about challenges and opportunities in treatment and management of sexual offenders. Like surgery, which can only be successful in a certain environment, also sexual offender treatment and management needs specific of even unique conditions to be effective. Discussions are necessary about which legal and societal circumstances as well as which clinical environments we need to implement as effective treatment and management strategies as possible. Therefore, the current IATSO conference in Vilnius is aiming to share and discuss evidence-based research, approaches and best practices in the field as well as to create framework conditions supporting effective strategies for policy makers.
Vilnius is the Capital of Lithuania, which is rich in architecture, historical monuments, culture heritage, thematic festivals, and entertainments. Vilnius University, founded in 1579, prides itself on being the oldest higher education institution in the country and among the oldest in Eastern Europe. We look forward to welcoming you to Lithuania and to a conference that promises to be a great scientific and social event.
Ilona Laurinaitytė, Chair of the Local Organizing Committee
Martin Rettenberger, IATSO Secretary General
Reinhard Eher, IATSO President Elect
Ellids Kristensen, IATSO President
Abstract submission (Deadline for submission of abstracts is March 31, 2018)
You can register for the conference by clicking here
Keynote speakers (plenary sessions):
Kelly M. Babchishin (Canada): Towards a better understanding of incest: A review of sibling and father-daughter incest
Anthony Beech (United Kingdom): Risk factors for sexual offending indicating innovative approaches to treatment
James M. Cantor (Canada): Neurobiology of pedophilia or paraphilia? Towards a ‘Grand Unified Theory’ of sexual interests
Meredith L. Chivers (Canada): Gender, sexual arousal, and sexual desire
Franca Cortoni (Canada): Female sexual offenders: A special subgroup
Reinhard Eher (Austria) & Martin Rettenberger (Germany): Sexual offender policy and relapse rates: Experiences of legislational changes in 2008 in Austria emphasizing the risk reduction and rehabilitation of sexual offenders
Theresa Gannon (UK): Future directions in sexual offending: Cognition, emotion, and motivation
R. Karl Hanson (Canada): Release from the sex offender label: Years offence free and dynamic reassessment
Brian Judd (USA) & Vernon L. Quinsey (Canada): An annotated history of risk assessment: The emergence of the VRAG-R
Ilona Laurinaitytė (Lithuania): Challenges of implementing evidence-based practices in sex offender management
Elizabeth J. Letourneau (USA): Sound policy and practice to prevent and address sex crime
Liam Marshall (Canada): A knowledge translation informed integrated approach to the treatment of sex offenders
Boris Schiffer (Germany): Neurobiological underpinnings of pedophilia and child sexual offending
Jessica Yakeley (UK): Paraphilias, perversions, personality disorders and psychoanalysis: Diagnostic controversies
Pre-conference workshops:
Kelly M. Babchishin (Canada): Users of child sexual exploitation material: A review
Anthony Beech (United Kingdom): Challenges and debates in risk assessment: Moving the field forward or not?
James M. Cantor (Canada): Pedophilia and the brain: The three big questions now asked and answered
Franca Cortoni (Canada): Gender-informed assessment and treatment approaches with women who sexually offend
R. Karl Hanson (Canada): Empirical methods for revising placement in the standardized risk levels for sexual offenders
Brian Judd (USA), Vernon L. Quinsey (Canada) & L. Maaike Helmus (New Zealand): The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide – Revised (VRAG-R): Application to European offenders
Liam Marshall (Canada): Effective strategies for working with sex offenders in denial
Jessica Yakeley (UK): When sexual fantasy becomes violent reality: Working psychoanalytically with sex and violence
Local Organizing Committee (Vilnius University):
Ilona Laurinaitytė, Chair
Alfredas Laurinavičius, Vice-Chair
Virginija Klimukienė
Laura Ustinavičiūtė
About IATSO
IATSO was founded formally on March 24th, 1998 in Caracas, Venezuela during the 5th International Conference on the Treatment of Sex Offenders. It is an international non-profit organization committed to the promotion of research of and treatment for sexual offenders throughout the world.
Goals and Objectives
- The sponsorship of biennial International Conferences on the Treatment of Sexual Offenders for the dissemination of new research, treatment methods and to provide continuing education and networking opportunities;
- The promotion of international, regional and local conferences on the Treatment of Sexual Offenders;
- Updating the IATSO Standards of Care for the Treatment of Adult Sexual Offenders and the IATSO Standards of Care for the Treatment of Juvenile Sexual Offenders consistent with advances in knowledge of the treatment of sexual offenders;
- Advocacy of humane, dignified, comprehensive, ethical and effective treatment of sexual offenders throughout the world.