Sex Offender Literature Review

1715 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Can sexual offenders be treated and rehabilitated

Introduction
Prison occupies a central symbolic role within the criminal justice system and is meant to be a critical deterrent to future offending. The commonly held view is that offenders must be placed in prison because they have deviated from society’s norms. They are typically branded as misfits or lawbreakers.
According to Smith (2004) a sex offender is “someone who has committed or attempted to commit any type of illegal or non-consensual sexual act and/or any sexual behaviour involving children under the legal age of consent, based upon the laws governing the location where the sexual behaviour occurred."
The purpose of the Department of Corrections in Queensland is to provide, in partnership with other key criminal justice agencies “community safety and crime prevention through the humane containment, supervision and rehabilitation of offender” (Queensland Corrective Services, 2009). Probation and Parole officers supervise sex offenders who have been placed on community-based orders by the courts, as well as offenders released on parole from prison. They work to integrate offenders through management systems and ensure that they are all provided with the appropriate classification and supervision in rehabilitation programs to maximise their chances of reintegration into society upon their release.
To understand the role of probation and parole officer, rehabilitation programs, media’s effect on legislation and community awareness and the unpredictability of future behaviour will be reviewed to allow a better understanding of the given scenario and the important role that officer’s play when reintegrating sexual offenders back into the community as opposed to incarceration to prevent recidivism.

Rehabilitation Progra...

... middle of paper ...

...Merril D. 2004. “Encyclopaedia of Rape.” Library Journal, 129 (18):120-120. Accessed March 2, 2014.
Stathopoulos, Mary. 2010. "Measuring sexual offender recidivism." Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Awareness, 25 (1). Accessed March 1, 2014. http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/newsletter/n25/n25-3.html.
White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Recidivism, Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice.” In Crime, Criminality & Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 546-567. Victoria: Oxford University Press.
White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Crime and Media.” In Crime, Criminality & Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 33-50. Victoria: Oxford University Press.
White, Rob and Perrone, Santina. 2010. “Incarceration and Prisonisation.” In Crime, Criminality & Criminal Justice, edited by Bill Gillespie, 475-509. Victoria: Oxford University Press.

Show More
Related

  • Sex Offender Registration And Notification In Texas Case Study

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    The following research will display an overview of the process in Texas on how sex offenders are registered along with the notifications that are followed after registration. Texas, as many other states, has a procedure which requires sex offenders to register with the local law enforcement agencies at the time of their discharge. In addition to registration, they must also comply with further probation regulations. Research has concluded that there are four basic phases of registration and notification. Beginning with offender notified, following the offender registration and community notified and ending with public notification

    Read More

  • Jeff Jacoby’s Bring Flogging Back

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many young criminals are less likely to become career criminals if punished through public embarrassment than through prison. Prison can be a sign of manliness or a “status symbol” (Jacoby 197). He says “prison is a graduate school for criminals”, providing evidence that criminals want to be convicted and be in prison, to strengthen their status (Jacoby 197). Jacoby knows how to properly get his view across to the reader, by saying that prison is not as effective now, as it used to be.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Rise of America’s Prison Empire

    1930 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the event that a prisoner (particularly a sex offender) does complete rehabilitation, he carries with him a stigma upon reentering society. People often fear living near a prior drug addict or convicted murderer and the sensational media hype surrounding released felons can ruin a newly released convict’s life before it beings. What with resident notifications, media scare tactics and general concern for safety, a sex offender’s ability to readapt into society is severely hindered (554). This warrants life-skills rehabilitation applied to him useless, as he will be unable to even attempt to make the right decision regarding further crime opportunities.

    Read More

  • Sex Offender Registry Essay

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... to open one’s mind and view from both sides of the coin. Many excellent resolutions were found, just from expanding one’s horizons, and looking beyond the obvious, which is perhaps the reason why the registry has failed to maintain it’s goal in the past. However, it is important to remember what that goal is, and to not lose sight of it and become lenient upon the individuals that were convicted of sexual offences. For some of them, rehabilitation is the key, but only when done right. For the citizens of Canada, developing the registry further in positive ways are the road that the justice system must take. In order to attain the goal of having a safer environment for future generations, the justice system must build a solid foundation that is unwavering in it’s goal. With further development, rehabilitation for adolescents, that goal can be brought into reality.

    Read More

  • Background of Sex Offender Registries

    2351 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the United States, as a condition of parole, sex offenders are typically required to register with law enforcement officials when released from prison. These officials notify the public of the offender’s release back into society and provide them with information such as the offenders address, and other personal information. Research indicates the notification system can have an adverse effect on the offender’s life, casting doubt on what the laws intended to protect the public. This paper will explore the background of sex offender registries, the relationship between the sex offender notifications and registration laws, and higher rates of recidivism in the United States. Introduction Sex offender legislation has become a controversial topic in the recent years.

    Read More

  • Social Effects Of Mass Incarceration

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even excluding to consider the civil ramifications of imprisonment, the current standpoint neglects other measures effects. These incorporate damaging, faculty of crime and the crimes within the prison. Prison is a school of crime in which criminals first learn and then improve their skills at criminal behavior and create connections with other criminals. This account implies that incarceration removes prisoners from social networks connected with employment and instead connects them to associate with criminal activity. Some scholars have argued that incarceration does not necessarily reduce crime but merely relocates it behind bars. Increasing incarceration while ignoring more effective approaches will impose a heavy burden upon curst, corrections and communities, while providing a marginal impact on

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Sex Offenders

    312 Words  | 1 Pages

    In today’s society, juveniles that commit a sexual assault have become the subject of society. It’s become a problem in the United States due to the rise of sexual offenses committed by juveniles. The general public attitude towards sex offenders appears to be highly negative (Valliant, Furac, & Antonowicz, 1994). The public reactions in the past years have shaped policy on legal approaches to managing sexual offenses. The policies have included severe sentencing laws, sex offender registry, and civil commitment as a sexually violent predator (Quinn, Forsyth, & Mullen-Quinn, 2004). This is despite recidivism data suggesting that a relatively small group of juvenile offenders commit repeat sexual assaults after a response to their sexual offending (Righthand &Welch, 2004).

    Read More

  • Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cognitive behavioral therapy is a promising outlook for the rehabilitation of sex offenders. The therapy is directed towards reconditioning the way a sex offender thinks and operates daily. This makes it possible for offender to apply learned treatment methods and tools to their every day life and more effectively recognize maladaptive thought patterns, which could lead to reoffending. The downside to the therapy is that it relies heavily on the offender to want to change; however, pre-screening into the program helps to ensure only those who want change may participate. In the future there may be more of a shift to the Good Lives Model, which focuses even more on self-worth and self-actualization to make the offender feel important and return to the community as a productive citizen.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Prisoner's Dilemma'

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal

    Read More

  • Canada Should Focus More on Rehabilitation and Less on Retribution

    3232 Words  | 7 Pages

    Wormith, J. S., Althouse, R., Simpson, M., Reitzel, L. R., Fagan, T. J., & Morgan, R. D. (2007). The rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders: The current landscape and some future directions for correctional psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(7), 879-892.

    Read More

  • Current Issues in the Correctional System

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...

    Read More

  • Recidivism of Sex Offenders

    2497 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a

    Read More

  • Crime is a contested and complex concept. Discuss

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Weatherburn, D. (2011) ‘Uses and abuses of crime statistics’, Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice, 153: 1-16

    Read More

  • Public Criminology

    3279 Words  | 7 Pages

    Conscious efforts to critique existing approaches to questions of crime and justice, demystify concepts and issues that are laden with political and ideological baggage, situate debates about crime control within a socio-historical context, and facilitate the imagination and exploration of alternative ways of thinking and acting in relation to crime and justice. (p. 3).

    Read More

  • Imprisonment is Ineffective as Punishment

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Johnstone, G. and Ness, D. (2007) Handbook of Restorative Justice. USA: Willan Publishing. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-big-question-what-are-the-alternatives-to-prison-and-do-they-work-419388.html [Accessed 01 January 2014].

    Read More

More about Sex Offender Literature Review

Open Document