Title: Inside The Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center | Wisconsin Public Radio
Headings: Inside The Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center
Inside The Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center
Content: Some involve role plays where he has to confront his risk factors for re-offending. The most useful one he says is simply called mindfulness. “I find that really helpful – learning how to slow my thinking down, and learning how to process things that I’m going through in order to make better decisions,” said Clint. Clint is among the 82 percent of patients who have been diagnosed with a personality disorder specifically related to sex offending. Another 10 percent have a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, and 9 percent are labeled mentally retarded. Sand Ridge research director David Thornton says there is also minority of patients who simply refuse treatment. “You'll have some individuals who essentially made the life choice that committing sex offenses and thinking about committing future sex offenses is a life that they enjoy better than what would be involved in the hard work of changing themselves and living in a law abiding way in the community,” said Thornton. Even the patients who don't cooperate with the therapy requirements have the same right to petition a court for release as those who do undergo treatment – but their likelihood of success is slim. One patient interviewed for this story did win a court battle for release without going through treatment. Thomas served 17 years in prison for sexual assault before being committed to Sand Ridge in 2004.