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Prison research reveals that sexual offending treatment programs are ineffective, according to new research.

Since 1991, sexual offenders in prisons and secure psychiatric hospitals across England and Wales have been offered Sexual Offender Treatment Program (SOTP).

However, new research reveals that the treatment programs, which focus on thinking styles, impact on victims, emotional management and intimacy skills, do not help.

"No evidence from academic or policy research has shown that the treatment program significantly reduces sexual reoffending," researcher David Ho, a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Clinical Research Lead at the SEPT Secure Mental Health Services, South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, said in a news release. "Victims and the public deserve to know this."

The study revealed that the majority of sexual offenders who go back to society are just as likely before the treatment program to offend again.

"Professional pride or political embarrassment cannot justify persisting with a program that leaves the public at risk of further sex offending," Ho added.

The findings are published in the journal The BMJ.