Category: Sex Offender

Violent and sexual offenders are believed to be among the most dangerous types of people in today’s modern world. This kind of offense is very different than other offenses and is judged based on certain criteria. A violent offense is based on the severity of physical damage, whilst a sexual offense is considered a violation of the person’s most sacred rights. The treatment for both is also set accordingly—a violent offender is taught to control emotions and practice techniques that help analyze the degree of stress, while a sexual offender is meant to change the set of values it has and obtain an understanding of the surrounding world.

When looking at violent offences, there are many things that draw a line between the treatment and assessment of the charges. The primary has to deal with the model and the exhibited behavior and different types of conditions present at that time. There is a noticeable difference between habitual aggression and a first or second-charge violent offense. In the treatment process, those who are engaged in habitual violence have a greater chance to come in contact with services that provide some form of treatment. Some of the important applications and approaches in the treatment of violent offenders are the ways that they process the information, react emotionally, control or regulate their own behavior, changes in their development with the use of learning theory motivation for aggressive behavior, and prevention in relapses (Ireland, 2012). It is stressed that there must be a focus on the anti-social behavior and ability to manage the aggression. It is also emphasized that in the treatment process, emotions and the future outbreaks are incorporated into the process of rehabilitation. The maintenance of aggressive behavior has a lot to do with the way an individual processes the social information and how the behavior develops further. The human behavior, ingrained in every person, has been one of the focuses in the application of treatment. A person is taught to look at the social situation and decode the stimuli by finding a proper response. The interpretation is very important, as the person must have some positive feedback or reaction to the surrounding environment (Ireland, 2012). But since the sexual offences are different in nature, so a more unique approach is required. Marshal and Barbaree note the importance of developmental factors in the theory relating to child sexual abuse. Finkelhor’s precondition model also looks at behavior and how it is modelled. The theories offer a closer understanding of how the behavior develops and what specific aspects maintain its continuance (Ireland, 2012). One of the key factors to consider is the development of the offender and what vulnerabilities they had during the formation of their character and attitude. In many instances, the individuals who exhibit such behavior have been the victims of similar circumstances in the past. The attachments that an individual has and the ability to cope with the environment play a role in how a person will perceive the world outside their unique and skewed point of view.

Often, the problems relating to parenting and low quality of attachment, as well as the inability to trust and disclose feelings at a needed time, lead to a person becoming introvert. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a sensitive time, when an individual develops ‘scripts’. In case there is a lack of social skills and management of the environment, a person becomes closed in and creates its own criteria for proper behavior in a society. In this way, the attachments and socialization help the treatment. For violent offenders, the anger management programs are considered to be one of the most common forms of treatment. Generally, it is a group session that is characterised by short time periods, so that individuals do not lose focus and do not get agitated. The awareness of the offender’s behaviour and their interpretation of their own actions have proven beneficial in the rehabilitation process (DeLisi, 2011). Also, there is much work on the social aspect of the treatment, as the person has to assimilate back into society with the ability to deal with everyday life and pressures. There are techniques and approaches where a person is taught to control the rise of aggressive behaviour, for example, the individuals are presented with an opportunity to distinctly differentiate and label certain behaviours as unwanted for easier comprehension. This results in a better control and resonance between several types of moods and behaviours (Dvoskin, 2012). The cognitive practices are thought to be more in-depth, where an individual has a chance to analyse its own conduct and ways of moral understanding, to find out why they exhibit specific behavioural patterns. These are arranged in groups and are longer in time because of the closer detail examination. The treatment of sexual offenders has some differences, but the foundation of the therapy is built on cognitive analysis and the promotion of good behaviour. The “Good Lives” model encourages the person to look for a strong side in their character and build upon it. There is a practice in the tolerance of distress and acceptance of certain facts about one’s own personality that leads to commitment and rehabilitation. There is much attention paid to the continuity of the treatment, so that the person has time to adjust and get used to the routine. There are separate sessions and therapy programs that focus on different aspects of preparation for the social life, motivation to perform regular and routine tasks, treatment of own distress and the monitoring of general behaviour. The risk of a sexual offender returning to previous behaviour is greatly considered, which sets up an individual treatment program depending on the intensity of the divergence. There is even a division for those who mostly deny their behaviour or might qualify it as a minor deviation from norm. Because of the nature of the offence, such individuals are ensured with a lot of supervision and constant monitoring of the changes in the attitude and behaviour (Craig, 2010).

For violent offenders, relapse prevention is one of the most focused end goals of the treatment. A person must be taught to build on the social life and relationships with family and friends. Because the offence is based on the severity of applied force, the individuals are taught to control their temper. The techniques of cognitive and emotional control are directed to teach how to organise one’s own character. But more importantly, they should be given a glimpse into a life where they can focus on themselves, work on their health, leisure activities and work. In my opinion simply pointing to the behaviour and finding critical points do not bring any result, as the person will not be able to see the other perspective of social life. The Regulation Model of the Relapse Process outlines the organisation of rehabilitation and has several stages. An individual first gets a slight inclination towards recidivism and then it gradually increases. If the person is not taught about the ways to control and lower such impulses, they eventually lose the control of the situation. The same can be said about the success of GLM for sexual offenders, as they are taught the correct way to deal with their emotions. The more an individual understands why he/she is feeling certain things, the better he/she will understand how to cope and control those emotions and thoughts. It also provides more potential guidance for treatment and therapy in terms of understanding what is serving as motivation for individuals; namely what they are aiming to achieve and how this has changed over the offender’s life (Campbell, 2007). The self-determination theory of human motivation and the setting theory illustrate what one must focus on. For example, the self-motivation techniques are taught when a person analyses its abilities and compares it to the possible outcomes. As a result, an individual can motivate himself/herself to strive towards specific goals and work out an organisation of behavior to get closer to the manifestation of the direction (Forgas, 1998). The brain is the centre of the person’s being and information is stored in patterns and schemes. People develop a certain connection with the events in their life through repetition and learning. In case it is possible to re-wire the connection between violence to contain positive outcomes, the understanding of the situation changes. Stress and its control over a person play a major role, as it further leads to anger and uncontrollable behavior. Stress is a reaction of the central nervous system to the conditions that happen outside of an organism and, as such, physical and mental suppression is required.

The challenges of the treatment are both internal and external. There is a lot of therapy and rehabilitation as a result of offending, it still continues. This requires the legislation to adjust community rights and the rights of violent and sexual offenders. Sometimes, it is difficult to access the risk that offenders pose to the community, but some action still must be taken. All the laws relating to post sentencing have been upheld, which proves that the legislation serves its purpose. The researches lead to the fact that it is a reasonable and fair criterion of the applied law to offer therapy and medical support to such offenders. Incarceration alone cannot be effective enough in providing social development and individual growth. The sentencing already passes as a punishment to the person, and any post-sentence restraint adds to further punishment of the released convict. The goals of the preventive detention program are the safety of the community and the change in the behaviour of the offender. The post-sentence preventive detention and therapeutic treatment is aimed at violent and sexual offenders who already permit this in prison. The basis of this policy is an adequate community safety and continued restraint, care and/or therapy of a prisoner to aid its rehabilitation. The therapy targets offenders who are incarcerated for a serious offence, regardless of the time of sentence commencement, relative to enactment of the legislation. However, the scope of the offence for which the treatment applies varies between states. Prior to the treatment, the therapist should review the criminal history of the sexual or violent offender to conclude whether it poses high probability of potential risk or not. This is true for all offenders, as their behaviour patterns are somewhat similar (Gilbert, Jones & Austin, 1986). The environmental factors also increase the internal frustration, which leads to a body’s chemical response. An offender must adopt a narrow focus — concentrating on anti-social behavior and missing core aggression. There are problems with the perception of the situation and previous knowledge. An offender is not aware that its behavior is thought to be unlawful, as they have adapted to such attitude and do not consider it to be outside the norm. The theory describing the process of over-focusing on subjective emotion, which is anger, makes the person act out inner pressure. The therapy teaches the offenders to reorganise their perception. Sometimes they might refuse to recognise the reality of a traumatic perception. So, the facts and situations must be presented to describe in detail the specifics of their behavior and attitude (Esbensen, 2010). Also, there is difficulty in applying the treatment to an individual offender, as there are many loopholes. Some of these loopholes lead to unnecessary punishment to serious violent or sexual offenders. In various preventive schemes, the court evaluates the tendency of the offender to repeat the crime. The court has to perceive a high degree of surety that the probability of the offender’s recidivism after term completion is enough grounds to apply the policy (Mercado & Ogloff, 2007). But sometimes, there are cases when the evidence presents points in the wrong direction and does not allow an objective and fair decision. The eyewitnesses are often instrumental in providing testimonies, but their perspective or recollection of events might be skewed from the truth.

Recidivism is an important point to consider when releasing from custody or judicial supervision. The laws must reflect and aid in the treatment of sexual and violent offenders. There must be a direct link between legislation and the reality of individual characteristics (Serran, 2005). There is no doubt of the correlation between recidivism and therapy. With proper treatment, individuals can learn control and find ways to fit into the society. As such, each person must be treated individually, as there are a number of personal and social factors that play a role.

The research was done to differentiate between the two types of offenders and find the proper treatment approach. The objective was also to clarify how the specific treatment will lead to understanding and reintegration of the offenders into the society. To better understand both environmental and personal factors further research would allow for an in-depth understanding.

References

Campbell, T 2007, Assessing Sex Offenders: Problems and Pitfalls, Charles C Thomas Publisher, Springfield, IL.

Craig, L 2010, Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Offenders with Intellectual Disabilities, John Wiley & Sons Malden, MA.

DeLisi, M 2011, Violent Offenders: Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Burlingot, MA.

Dvoskin, J 2012, Using Social Science to Reduce Violent Offending, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Esbensen, F 2010, Youth Violence: Sex and Race Differences in Offending, Victimization, and Gang Membership, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA.

Forgas, J 1998, ‘Happy and mistaken? Mood effects on the fundamentals attribution error’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 75, pp. 318-331.

Gilbert, D, Jones, E & Austin, T 1986, ‘Perceiver-induced constraint: Interpretations of self-generated reality’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 50 no. 2, pp. 296-280.

Ireland, J 2012, Violent and Sexual Offenders: Assessment, Treatment and Management, Routledge, New York, NY.

Mercado, C & Ogloff, J 2007, ‘Risk and the preventive detention of sex offenders in Australia and the United States’, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Vol. 30, pp. 49-59.

Serran, G 2005, Sexual Offender Treatment: Controversial Issues, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England.

Sex offenders are seen as a serious threat by the public, which is taken seriously by governments around the world (Bartels et al., 2019). A series of preventive measures emerged, including registries, community notification, and preventive detention; however, all of them have had a limited effect on recidivism among sex offenders (Bartels et al., 2019). One of the most innovative ways to reintroduce low-risk sex offenders into the community is the chaperone program. The program targets family members, close friends, or significant others instead of targeting the offenders themselves. The selected person serves as a mentor to the offender and takes part of the responsibility in case of recidivism. These mentors or chaperones are trained to notice the signs of relapse or exposure to risk factors and report these matters to the officers. In case such cases go unnoticed, or the chaperone intentionally conceals problems, they are to be punished by law due to the inability to perform their duties.

The chaperones need to be 21 years or older, have the ability to go through training, and have no history of convictions. The mentors should not have any problems with substance abuse. They need to live with the offender or very close to the house and visit the offender at least three times a week. The offender needs to understand that chaperone is not an optional measure and treat the person with due respect. It is preferred that the offender and the chaperone have close relationships so that the offenders can share their emotions and worries. However, the chaperones should not be intimidated to conceal the signs of recidivism due to the close relationships. Polygraph tests may be introduced to ensure the honesty. Introduction of the chaperone programs had a positive effect on recidivism in several states in the US (Bartels et al., 2019). However, further research is required to confirm the effectiveness of the strategy.

References

Bartels, L., Walvisch, J., & Richards, K. (2019). More, longer, tougher… or is it finally time for a different approach to the post-sentence management of sex offenders in Australia? Criminal Law Journal, 43(1), 41-57. Web.

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to examine community placement trends and laws governing the treatment of sexual offenders in the state of California. The study will look at placement trends and what they involve and all the people responsible. The study will also examine policies and practices used to manage sexual offenders in California, relating them to the practices and policies used elsewhere in the country. The paper will also look at the innovations made to improve treatment of sexual offender and how their supervision is managed.

Main body

Sexual offences instill fear in the collective conscience of a society especially if the victims of sexual offences are children. Sexual offence seems to be a growing category of crime and the number of sexual offenders grows by seven percent every year. In the state of California, nearly one out of every people incarcerated is a sexual offender and this highlights the gravity of the crime in the state. It is estimated that the state of California has by far the number of sexual offenders in the United States of America. There are more than 15, 000 convicted sexual offenders under the jurisdiction of correction agencies in the state of California while more than seven thousand are under community supervision. According to statistics from California state attorney general’s office, there are more than one hundred thousand registered sexual offenders in the state. The state of California requires that all the sexual offenders on parole to be registered with the agencies that enforce law in their locality. The state is also designing new systems and mechanisms that will be used to manage sexual offenders and these include individual and group therapy. Other techniques include parole caseloads and life time supervisions for the sexual offenders in the state. This program may however be affected by limited funds available.

In the state of California, most paroled sex offenders with some sorts of illnesses or disabilities do not receive the same level of supervision as other ordinary offenders because it is very unfeasible to have special personnel to supervise this segment of sexual offenders. In this state, many paroled sexual offenders do not get special treatment as part of their supervision unlike some of the states especially in the east and south of the United States of America. There are also other measures that the state is taking to ensure that sexual offenders are properly managed and supervised once they are out of correction systems. One of the measures is the requirement that all sexual offenders participate in formal medical treatment programs and this is one of the conditions that the sexual offenders are given before they are released from incarceration. However, more serious sexual offenders are categorized as sexual predators and these offenders remain incarcerated for indeterminate periods because they are a threat to the society, but they are some times taken to secured treatment facilities for special treatment. The state has enacted laws that have authorized indeterminate periods of incarceration for sexual predators in secure settings and the

Californian law is unique because it requires sexual predators two spend at least two years in a secured mental health setting with a possibility for an extension of this time limit. Sexual predators are sexual offenders who target strangers and they sometimes have more than one victim. These offenders violent crimes that are sexual in nature and there are some features of laws that have been enacted by the state of California to deal with sexual offenders especially those whose crimes are violent in nature. To start with, the civil commitment of a sexual predator is preceded by a criminal sentence and the criminal law specifically sexual offenders who have been repeatedly involved in sexual crimes. For those who have been involved in sexual offences for the first time, civil statutes are used instead of the criminal law. The law also recommends that persons implicated in sexual offences be confined is a safe facility until they are deemed safe enough for release. They can be released into a less restrictive environment or into the community they used to live in depending on the recommendations of correction agencies. Those individuals reported to be poor candidates for specialized treatment and never made any significant progress after admission could be taken back to the court for sentencing using the criminal laws.

In the state of California, as is the practice in most of the states of America, the standards used are beyond reasonable doubt so that the criminal proceedings may have enough burdens of proof because lower standards without vivid and solid evidence would hamper commitment (Marshall, 56). California is one of the few states that require juvenile sexual offenders to be civilly committed because most states allow commitment of people above the age of eighteen. This law followed the examples of Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington. Californian law on sexual offenses is the only state law that allows a two year confinement period for sexual offenders before they can be given a hearing. Most other states that have sexual offenders law require indeterminate confinement for sexual offenders. Civil commitment process for sexual offenders in the state of California follows some definite steps. If a person has been convicted of one or more sexual offenses and is about o be released from a state correction agency, the person is usually assessed by the department of corrections or department of mental health to ascertain whether they fit the definition of a sexual predator. The attorney general then decides whether there is a sufficient evidence to file the case and the court goes ahead to determine whether there is enough evidence to prove that the suspect is a sexual offender, and after thirty to sixty days of the determination of the probable cause, trail is held and if the court determines that the person is a sexual offender, the person is therefore committed to a state facility for supervision, care and treatment.

In California, the department of criminal justice helped by the department of mental health determines whether an incarcerated sexual offender, about to be released from prison or a mental health facility should be subjected to a civil commitment. A large panel of experts drawn from the two aforementioned departments and the department of public safety make reviews for the requests to determine whether a sexual offender should be tried for civil commitment and for the offender to be committed, they must have a behavioral constraint that would make them highly likely to engage sexual offences. However, if the panel determines that the sexual offender is a violent sexual predator, that offender is therefore subject to civil commitment and can therefore be released without being referred to a mental health facility and is taken to the custody of a case manager.

The person is then monitored using global positioning devices and they are also subjected to penile polygraph tests to assess their ability to control their sexual urges (Rea 193). They are also required to attend outpatient sessions for individual and group therapy and if they fail to comply can force the law enforcement authorities to take the sexual predator back to prison. When taken back to prison, the sexual offender remains in civil commitment for an indeterminate period of time and can only be released into the community if their behavior has changed to an extent that the sexual offender is less likely to engage in sexual offences. The sexual offender is also subject two a review after every two years and this review is presented to a judge by the responsible case manager to determine if the behavioral abnormality of the sexual offender has changed. If there is a change in behavior, then a hearing is set and the sexual offender can therefore be released form incarceration.

Conclusion

In conclusion, sexual offence laws in California have kept on changing to accommodate the changing nature of sexual crimes in the city and though the laws have become tougher than ever, they have not managed to bring down the rates of sexual crimes in the state. However, the state leads in the treatment and managed supervision of sexual offenders ensuring that instances of repeated sexual crimes from the same offender are minimal

Works Cited

Marshall, Wallace. Treatment of sex offenders. NY: Sage. 2001.

Rea, James. Covert Sensitization. The Behavior Analyst Today, 4 (2) 2002, 192-201.

The project that I’ll be focusing on is female sex offenders, which is a growing occurrence alarming all of society. Traditionally, it has been assumed that all sex crimes are committed by males. Males clearly aren’t the only ones committing the sex crime, but because of this double standard female predators are difficult to be identified. There are two prominent questions that will be studied and evaluated regarding female-perpetrated abuse.

First one is, do female sexual offenders get less jail time than males? Moreover, are female sexual offenders perceived and treated differently in society than males? This topic is an area of interest because society tends to view women as the weaker sex. The general perception of women is caring, nurturing, and non-threatening, which peaks my interest because it’s contradictory to what society believes women to be.

The benefits of doing this project on female sex offenders are that it can help me in my professional career. It can give me a knowledge base to help me treat female perpetrators of sex crimes. I could get a better understanding of why there are misguided preconceptions associated with gender stereotyping and societal treatment discrepancy on the topic of female perpetrated sexual abuse.

Learning why there is a sense of denial of the possibility of women as potentially harmful sexual aggressors according to the general population. Is denial the reason for double standards and gender stereotyping? The disadvantage could be the limitation of research on the double standard between female and male sex offenders. Due to female sex offending has been a little rare until recent years, research experts may still be conjuring up answers to the questions I’m inquiring about.

Based on the surveys of the Justice Department, the current data display that “sex offenses are still very much a man’s crime. Female sex offenders are very rare: 96 percent of the sex assaults reported in 1999 involved male perpetrators” (Female offenders, 2010, para. 2). Due to this reason, the forensic experts failed to provide a portrait of a conventional female sex offender.

Nonetheless, female sexual abuse is an issue that does not receive enough attention because of lack of alertness and attention of the public. Moreover, more than 85% of cases of female sexual abuse remain unattended, as the victims of female sexual offenders are not considered to be telling the truth:

Child sex abuse by women is significantly more widespread than previously realized, with experts estimating that there could be up to 64,000 female offenders in Britain. Researchers from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), a child protection charity that deals with British female sex offenders said its studies confirmed that “fair proportion” of child abusers were women. Donald Findlater, director of research and development, said results indicated that up to 20% of a conservative estimate of 320,000 suspected UK pedophiles were women. (Female sexual offenders, 2013, para. 6)

The cases of female sex offenders are not unknown to the society; for example, a high school or college teacher that was accused of student’s sex abuse and confronts the criminal justice system. However, is it fair that a woman that is 39 nine years old received a punishment of only 30 days in custody at a community center for being involved in a wrongdoing about six years ago? Would the sentence be more severe if the offender was a 40-year-old, man and the victim was a girl student of a college?

“In a case that involves charges of abuse from two male students, Oregon teacher Denise Keesee has acknowledged multiple sexual encounters in 2008 with a then 16-year-old student, and currently faces a $5.1 million lawsuit from another male student.

According to Oregon Live, court documents show that Keesee told detectives she kissed [the other student] several times in 2012 when they were alone in her classroom. She also reportedly admitted to sending him photos of herself, including one of her naked” (Williams, 2014, para. 2) The victim, a student of a college, had turned 18 and reached legal adulthood; therefore, no illegal allegations took place.

Nevertheless, the criminal justice system is full of examples, where the male sex offenders receive light penalty; moreover, it is crucial to remember that each case of sex abuse has an unprecedented and different story almost every time.

On the contrary, in this particular case of Denise Keesee, where the sex offender received only a month of correctional work for abusing a minor student, a male teacher also from Oregon received three years in prison as a sentence for sexually abusing his underage student in college. At the same time, the state of Idaho condemned an educator to imprisonment from 5 to 20 years for attempts to inappropriate sexual relations with his two adolescent students.

When talking about sex abuse, traditional thought is about a grown man abusing a girl or a woman, and it is confirmed by a statistics that men more often serve as sex offenders than victims of sex abuse. Nonetheless, not everybody thinks that women also are capable of being a sex offender.

Julia Hislop expressed her opinion in New York Times: “A number of factors conspire to keep these women from being detected and prosecuted … It is important that investigators recognize that females can and do commit serious sex crimes” (Williams, 2014, para. 4).

Moreover, the subject of female sex abuse remained withdrawn for a long time: Charlotte Philby observed that “female sex abuse is a taboo, and there is hardly any official information available pertaining specifically to the area of women who sexually abuse children and barely any research being carried out, either” (Williams, 2014, para. 5).

Nevertheless, we can confidently say that the situation revolving around female sex abuse is evolving. In winter of 2013 a trial took place in a state of California: a woman of 28 years revealed a record of a conversation with Jamie Carrillo, a teacher who had been abusing a woman for 16 years. Jamie Carrillo was arrested and registered as a female sex offender after a while.

Sexual abuse is still a crime, as well as taking advantage of the relations between a grown person and an adolescent student. Therefore, sentences for sexual offenders should correspond to the severity of a crime, not to a sex of the offenders and victims.

There are lots of studies that “explored the attitudes of prison officers, forensic staff and members of the public towards and male and female sex offenders” (Higgins & Ireland, 2009, p. 14) not only in the United States of America: the phenomenon of mistreating female sex offenders can be observed in most of the developed countries throughout the world.

For example, members of a research held by Caitriona Higgins and Carol Ireland in The British Journal of Forensic Practice (2009) “were provided with a vignette depicting a particular sexual offence committed against either an adult or a child, by either a male or a female perpetrator, and were then asked to complete a scale assessing attitudes to sex offenders based on the offender depicted in the vignette” (p. 15).

As a result, the forensic experts appeared to have the most positive approach towards female sex offenders, as they are thought to have more chances at rehabilitation. The prison staff admitted having negative feelings towards female sex offenders, as they are still criminals regardless of their gender.

Based on the results of the research mentioned above, it could be said that “overall, females emerged as viewing sex offenders in more favourable terms, whereas males were more supportive of harsh attitudes to sex offenders” (Higgins & Ireland, 2009, p. 18). Moreover, the participants of the study depicted more adverse approach towards male sex offenders than females, thus illustrating an overall picture of attitudes towards female sex offenders.

Despite the fact that there are studies regarding “etiological models of male sexual offending, no theory is available to guide research or practice with female sexual offenders” (Gannon, Rose, & Ward, 2008, p. 352). According to the researches, there are different reasons for women to commit sexual crimes. Cases that involve females in position of power over their victims, such as college teachers and educators, tend to commit sexual crimes on the basis of experiments; thus leading to a more light sentence. Nonetheless, this reason is not able to justify the crime committed by any gender, and female sex offenders should not be treated any different than male offenders.

References

Female offenders driven by more than sex. (2010). Web.

Female sexual offenders. (2013). Web.

Gannon, T., Rose, M., & Ward, T. (2008). A descriptive model of the offense process for female sexual offenders. A Journal of Research and Treatment, 20(1), 352-374.

Higgins, C., & Ireland, C. (2009). Attitudes towards male and female sex offenders: a comparison of forensic staff, prison officers and the general public in Northern Ireland. The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 11(1), 14-19.

Williams, M. (2014). Are female sex offenders treated differently? Salon. Web.

For those convicted for sex crimes, the common sentence is jail time which is normally accompanied by a treatment program in form of rehabilitation that is designed to discourage the re-occurrence (recidivism) of these crimes. Be that as it may, rehabilitation of sex crimes is still surrounded by many questions regarding its effectiveness. This is mostly due to the difficulty experienced in designing and carrying out good research to check on rehabilitation. Thus, there is still no evidence that proves the ineffectiveness of rehabilitation of sex offenders in terms of reducing recidivism.

Rehabilitation entails more than just the delivery of social work help to offenders. As noted by Clear and O’Leary (1983,18), it is more about changing the offender’s attitude towards criminal activities, produced by the intervention of the state and resulting in the offender’s willingness to keep criminal activities. To Clear and O’Leary, intervention may derive from numerous factors which motivate the offender to refrain from further crime, including the fear of being caught and punished again, receiving insight into any emotional causes of criminal behavior, and gaining access to social legitimate opportunities. Simply put, rehabilitation implies that when placed in a similar situation as before, the offender chooses not to engage in further offenses.

Unfortunately, even with the numerous studies carried out to check on the effectiveness of rehabilitation, little evidence exists to show that this measure actually helps to change the behavior of sex offenders (Finkelhor, 1986, 137). Finkelhor also notes that there is little difference, if any, in the rates of recidivism among offenders who have undergone rehabilitation and those that have not. This, therefore, means that none of the studies on recidivism has satisfactorily shown strong results to favor the rehabilitation programs. Apparently, the current rehabilitation programs for sexual offenders have no empirical support and their success or failure is judged on moral grounds, which is determined by the emotions of the society.

For instance, among the rehabilitation methods recommended for sex offenders is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is the widely used method to rehabilitate perpetrators of child sex crimes and the most common approach to this method is the use of group therapy. Group therapy however tends to over-rely on disciplinary, confrontation and unsystematic combination of psychoanalytic ideas and as such, there are no theories to support the program.

The lack of evidence to dispute or confirm the effectiveness of rehabilitating sex offenders can be attributed to the difficulty in carrying out good research studies. The ideal study would entail a close follow-up of sex offenders who have been released into society after serving their sentences and comparing their recidivism rates with those of offenders who have gone through the best rehabilitation programs available. Thus, the study would be comparing a treated group and a control untreated group.

The best way to carry out such a study would be to subject some sex offenders randomly to rehabilitation before releasing them to society while releasing others without passing them through rehabilitation programs. This however would present the research team with numerous challenges, especially on legal and ethical grounds. The question of the morality of releasing untreated sex offenders is likely to come up and trigger public outcry which in turn could result in the filing of lawsuits on negligence grounds. Therefore, the studies available today may not have any control group, and the results gotten by such studies simply reflect the percentages of re-occurrence of offenses for offenders treated at different time periods.

In conclusion, the effectiveness of rehabilitation in preventing the reoccurrence of sex crimes is still an issue that remains to be solved. This article has shown the lack of evidence to prove the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and also shown a weakness in the study programs. Therefore, until a better program is developed to examine the effectiveness of rehabilitation, there is no way to tell if rehabilitation works for sex offenders or not.

References

Clear, T & O’Leary, V. (1983). Controlling the offender in the community: reforming the community supervision function. Michigan: Lexington Books.

Finkelhor, D. (1986). A sourcebook on child sexual abuse. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Thesis

Retributive justice alone cannot sufficiently address the issue of sexual offense. This is especially true in case the offender is an adolescent. Treating the deviant adolescent will not only prevent the likelihood of the occurrence of such behavior in his or her adult life but will also shield potential victims in future apart from curtailing the transmission of the deviant behavior to innocent adolescents who could be easily lured by hardened but untreated offenders. The benefits accruing to the society, the victim and the individual are enormous through utilization of the treatment program. Since prevention is better that cure, it is suffice to say that treating adolescents will help them avoid committing grievous sexual offences when they are adults.

Introduction

There is little data that shows the exact number of sex offenders. Many are the instances where the adolescent sex offenders rarely go unprosecuted. Again, such offenders are often not treated. Studies show that adult sex offenders who commit grievous sexual offences started exhibiting such tendencies in their adolescent life. Studies show that in-prison adult sex offenders’ treatment programs have had incredible success in terms of monetary and emotional cost effectiveness. This has led criminologists to hypothesize that treatment of adolescent sex offenders would have far reaching success.

The reason why most adolescent delinquents escape law drag net when they commit sexual crimes in most cultures is because discussion of such deviant issues is seen as a taboo (Haughton, 2007, 87). Most of the offenders’ relatives will go to any length to help the perpetrator avoid responsibility for his or her actions. Normally, their actions will often be dismissed under an umbrella condemnation in that it is assumed that the culprits will outgrow their deviant behaviors once they mature. Such assumptions lead to serious consequences both for the sex offender and any of his or her future potential victims.

Treatment

The initial stages of the treatment program are quite difficult. This is because it is not always easy to convince the victim of the importance of the treatment. The general consensus is that the culprit should pay dearly for his actions. The victims question the legitimacy of the program and it is not uncommon to hear them ask why the government should waste huge amounts of resources on offenders while most of their victims continue to suffer emotionally and otherwise with little or no assistance. However, with every degree of certainty, it would not seem improper to protect potential future victims of sexual offence by reducing the chance of reoffending (Haughton, 2007, 88). Thus, it is equally important to help sex offenders and the victims alike.

The sexual offenders’ treatment history dates back to the early 40’s. The use of different approaches in the treatment of sexual deviance has changed the outlook of society and medical practitioners regarding this behavior. It was during this time that radiologists and pediatricians decided to investigate unreported cases of children who were being physically abused. It occurred that there were no cases being prosecuted despite the fact that medical practitioners continued to receive children who often suffered from sexually transmitted diseases.

The medical practitioners’ decision to take action and document the cases of sexually abused children was due to the fact that there was reluctance from the government side to carry out expeditious investigations. In 1960, angry members of society and doctors took the initiative of investigating cases of child abuse. This time, the government intervened by passing legislation that allowed for widespread surveillance on the upbringing of children. The move by the government unveiled an alarming rate of cases of child abuse that often went unnoticed (Kaplan, 2012, 52). This served as a wake up call and in 1970; the government passed amended most of the criminal and civil laws to address the issue of sexual offense. This led to an increase in research of adult sexual offenders. The research led to the conclusion that early identification of the problem would help stakeholders intervene before any further damage was done.

The research studies unanimously showed that a considerable majority of adult sexual offenders started showing inclinations towards sexual offences before reaching the age of 18. It was also noted that juveniles reprimanded were often accused of trivial crimes while in actual case the sexual offence they had committed was extremely serious. Adolescent sexual offenders’ treatment programs developed in early 80’s failed to be effective since there was no coordinated exchange of information. This is because the cases were treated individually and in isolation and not systematically. This meant that an individual would undergo treatment for a particular sexual offence he had committed while other undetected offences went untreated. This left the offender with the possibility of progressing from less serious to more serious behaviors (Siegel, 2012, 72).

The treatment approaches used during the time lacked any scientific basis or theories and were based on trial and error or fire brigade approach. The programs were pretty much dependent on philosophies. The programs lost their differences with time and became all the more similar. This led to the evolution of the current sexual offenders treatment theories. The treatment programs are exemplified in MAPPs and ASOTP which are acronyms for Male Program for Positive Sexuality and Adolescent Sexual Offenders Treatment Program respectively (Stubbs, 2012, 73).

Criminological Theories of Treatment

The history of sexual offenders treatment programs are understood best by taking into account theories that have been in use for the last couple of decades. This will help us appreciate more the current therapeutic approach that is being used in the treatment of the offenders. The following theories are based on research carried out over a long period of time and not on mere theoretical assumptions (Stubbs, 2012, 74).

Psychosis Theories

Sexual offences perpetrated by people suffering from psychosis form a very small percentage (Pratt, 2002, 60). The difference between psychotic sex offenders and the rest is that they are unlikely to recover even after receiving help from this program. Thus, such individuals would better receive help from mental institutions since behavioral programs can have no positive impact on them.

Physiological Theories

Studies conducted recently show that persons who underwent traumatizing experiences exhibited anomalous behaviors since their brain had permanently changed the way in which it secreted chemicals when exposed to certain conditions. Most abnormal behaviors observed among adolescent sexual offenders and that were difficult to explain can be attributed to this factor. Neurological and hormonal disorders led psychologists to believe that trauma was responsible for the dysfunction of behavior among the sexual offenders (Pratt, 2002, 64).

The sexual offender in this case is normally treated through chemical castration to reduce the hyperactivity of hormones. This approach also called deprovera is used in less with juvenile sexual offenders. This is due to ethical reasons. Since this anti-testosterone approach can potentially harm the adolescent by way of retarding growth and rate of maturation, therapists often prefer the use of other approach (Stubbs, 2012, 71).

Theory of the family systems

This theory reflects feminist opinions. Deviant behavior that led to sexual offences such as incest and pedophilia is viewed to be as a result of family dysfunction. The sexual offender in this case is devoid of any criminal motive. There are cases where wives frustrated their husbands and encouraged intimacy between the husband his daughter or daughters. The victims due to confusion did not complain and had little sense of guilt (Stubbs, 2012, 78). Studies show that incest occurred equally between biological parents and children as well as step parents and step children. Given that it was the parents who encouraged the incestuous acts.

In 1970, responsibility was lifted from a victim of incest but mothers continued to BE held accountable (Pratt, 2002, 62). In 1980, the perpetrator of incest was charged with full responsibility. Treatment for sexual offenders in this case is often in the form of family therapy while the victims are accorded due protection and treated using similar therapy.

Learning Theories

This concept is derived from the fact that all knowledge and behavior is learned or obtained via experience. This theory seeks to establish ways through which undesirable behavior can be fixed with that which is appropriate through learning. Adolescent sexual offenders normally got aroused at a very young age as a result of child sexual abuse. This is thought to help reinforce sexual offence patterns and behavior (Tittle, 2010, 35).

Developmental Theories

These theories are akin to learning theories. It seeks to establish the connection and patterns between a child’s early experiences, environment, family ties and subsequent sexual offences. The offending party is often treated for trauma coming from family dysfunction, sexual and physical abuse, negligent parents, and exposure to pornography materials which might lead to development of undesirable sexual tendencies (Tittle, 2010, 30).

Cognitive Theories

Sexual offenders in this category tend to think that their sexual offence is acceptable. With such mental reinforcements, the offender is able to overcome social inhibitors. The thought patterns of such sexual offenders are often examined under cognitive theories. Sexual offenders in this category come from all age groups since they firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with their behavior. The offenders normally have strange ideas about sexuality and women (Tittle, 2010, 44).

Treatment in this case will be in form of cognitive behavioral treatment. The therapy involves trying to modify thought distortions in order to positively transform the behavior of the offender. There are seven stages that an offender goes through before ending up committing the crime. First he experiences cognitive distortions which are followed by a negative self image then the person feels that females reject him and this is followed by self isolation. After isolating oneself, the offender gets involved in intense sexual fantasies and cognitive distortions which might at some point overwhelm him. It is after being overwhelmed that the individual gets to carry out plans to enable him gratify his sexual fantasies (Pratt, 2002, 52).

The treatment that could work best for the offender is that which confronts head on his fantastic sexual belief system. Surprisingly, most victims of the sexual offender may themselves be suffering from cognitive distortions. Thus, same treatment is used for both the victim and the sexual offender to prevent any further occurrence of the offence.

Integrative Theories

These theories seek to prevent possibility of relapse in future. Sexual offenders just like drug addicts can end up getting involved in similar mistakes even after treatment (Siegel, 2012, 63). This is because the display similar thought patterns to those of former drug addicts who went back to doing drugs. The therapists try to establish the cause of the adolescent’s sexual behaviors by establishing the effect that sexual victimization may have had on him. The offender is assigned a position in a group of similar offenders who help correct each others thought patterns every time a person deviates from norm. This helps the offenders to gradually improve on their behavior.

Treating adolescent sexual offenders is no mean task. This is because; their peers isolate them immediately they learn of the person’s misdemeanor. This makes it vey difficult for them to create and sustain close relationships. Thus, by simulating alcoholic anonymous style of treating alcoholism, an adolescent sexual offender is integrated to a group of people who are currently being treated and those who were formerly treated successfully. In such environment, the individual feels accepted and chances of relapse are greatly reduced through such peer support groups (Pratt, 2002, 68).

Sexual Assault Cycle

This cycle explains the nature of sexual offence from the time it first happens and subsequent offences. This cycle lays bare the fact that previous minor offense could metamorphosis into much serious offences if the chain is not broken. This cycle was first observed in Colorado where a group of adolescents were undergoing therapeutic treatment at a closed adolescent treatment facility in 1978 (Kaplan, 2012, 52). The cycle described in part 6 cognitive theories shows that individuals have a common thought pattern regardless of whether they are first time or repeat offenders. This cycle helps identify specific behaviors to facilitate the treatment of a sexual offender.

It is clear from the theories just analyzed that treatment programs for adolescent sex offenders have moved from hypothesized approach into a more empirical approach. Thus, treatment programs are relying more on data that is readily available and less on theoretical approaches. This means that behavioral models being developed by medical practitioners are based on data collected by researchers.

Conclusion

There is a clear need to establish criteria for judging effectiveness of the current therapeutic treatment approaches. This is important in establishing to what extent awareness concerning the programs has been created and amount of resources that each program consumes. Adolescent treatment programs such as MAPPS in Australia and elsewhere require an intensive follow up program to prevent relapse and transmission of such sexual deviant behavior to unaffected adolescents. The success of the adolescent programs have been lacking since there is no follow up programs that are on record and if any the duration is very short (Stubbs, 2012, 75).

The success of the programs can only be ensured by placing emphasis on follow up programs. Further more, an offender who is undergoing treatment should be compared to one who is devoid of such a treatment so as to determine the level of effectiveness of the treatment programs. The treatment programs lack good will from the public who believe that allocating public resources to treatment of criminals is not justifiable and that such funds should go towards helping the victims of sexual offense. In retrospect, adolescent treatment programs cost 7 times less than incarceration.

It is clear from the foregoing discourse that incarceration alone would not rid the society of the vice. Instead, the society should be made to understand that treating adolescent sexual offenders is in the best interest of the whole society. This is because the dissenters who seem to advocate more for retributive justice rather than restorative justice do not understand that the program saves a lot of tax payers’ money, helps protect potential victims by reducing chances of reoffending, prevent transmission of the deviant behavior to innocent but naïve adolescent incase the offender relapses and reduce the likelihood of adulthood sexual offense by giving the youth a second chance in life.

Works cited

Haughton, Kelly. “Behavioral Approaches to the Management of Sex Deviations.” journal of Sex Crimes 13.2 (2007): 87-90. Print.

Kaplan, Howard. Self-esteem and theory of adolescent deviance. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2012. Print.

Pratt, James. Critical criminology and the punitive society: Some new ‘visions of social control’. Cullompton: Willan, 2002. Print.

Siegel, Larry. Criminology. Cleveland: Wordsworth, Inc., 2012. Print.

Stubbs, Joel. Women’s encounters with violence: Australian experiences. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Tittle, Charles. “Proposed the control balance theory, wrote Control Balance.” Toward a General Theory of Deviance 18.3 (2010): 28-45. Print.

Iffland, J. A., Berner, W., Dekker, A., & Briken, P. (2016). What keeps them together? Insights into sex offender couples using qualitative content analyses. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 42(6), 534–551.

This research was aimed at interviewing people to analyze their adjustment strategies. The main idea of the study is that couples are stable and both partners are interested in maintaining the relationship because it has some features they would have difficulties finding (Iffland et al., 2016). Such a result applies to most interview participants and thus portrays the situation in sex offender couples in general. The authors highlight the answers people gave to the questions during the interview and reflected on them as linkers of particular behavioral patterns (Iffland et al., 2016). Concerning the use of this article for my essay, I suppose it would be perfect for explaining the modern perception of the sex offensive behavior phenomenon. Moreover, this research would help me illustrate how differently people’s attitudes vary despite the commonly assumed way of perception. This article would help me support arguments on the importance of public opinion on different issues society faces, including sex offenses. Furthermore, it would help me show that people do not always state their opinion honestly in public, which means that stereotypes can still predetermine huge groups’ behavior.

Rowlands, M. T., Palk, G., & Young, R. McD. (2017). Psychological and legal aspects of dangerous sex offenders: A review of the literature. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(6), 812-824.

This article’s main idea is that prediction of sex violation cases requires a system of assessing the level of danger in couples, implying the “biological, sociological, psychological and ecological factors” (p. 821). The author supports his ideas by analyzing the perception of a ‘dangerous person’ in different countries and providing a clinical assessment of such risks. This article would help me demonstrate the importance of a complex approach to any problem that has to be solved by the government through the example of sex crimes. I would use this research for the arguments related to the unfairness of people’s treatment of celebrity sex offenders. For example, I would mention the necessity to understand dangerousness while assessing people’s ability to remain in society.

Strange, C. (2018). Determining the punishment of sex criminals in confederation-era Canada: A matter of national policy. The Canadian Historical Review 99(4), 541-562.

This article contains a historical review of punishment for a sex offense in Canada. The main idea of the research is that punishments for sex-related crimes have become milder, and the system of punishment in this field was not clear from the beginning. Supporting the claim, the authors say that “in the decade following Confederation, twenty-six men were sentenced to death for sex crimes, but none was executed.” (p. 543). This article would be helpful for my essay because it contains a thorough overview of the stages of changing the government’s attitude to sex crimes. Therefore, I would use it to reflect on the strictness of crimes in the past and the present consequences of the law mildness.

References

Iffland, J. A., Berner, W., Dekker, A., & Briken, P. (2016). What keeps them together? Insights into sex offender couples using qualitative content analyses. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 42(6), 534–551. Web.

Rowlands, M. T., Palk, G., & Young, R. McD. (2017). Psychological and legal aspects of dangerous sex offenders: A review of the literature. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(6), 812-824. Web.

Strange, C. (2018). Determining the punishment of sex criminals in confederation-era Canada: A matter of national policy. The Canadian Historical Review 99(4), 541-562. Web.