A sex offence is the commission of acts of a sexual nature against a person without that persons consent (OOJP, 2006). There are several different types of sex offenders such as those offending against children, against adults and sexual murderers. The sex offending itself takes many forms, “from the man who indecently exposes himself, the man who possesses illegal pornography, to the man who offends against his children” (OOJP, 2006). The fight against sex offending is high on the British government’s agenda as they argue sexual crime and the fear of sexual crime has a profound and damaging effect on our social communities even close to us. (John F., 2013). This assignment will examine how sex offenders dealt with by the criminal justice system including the treatment that may be available for sex offenders whilst incarcerated, after release and also during and after non-custodial sentences. As stated earlier, there are many types of offender who commit varying types of offences. For the purpose of this essay, I will only be considering adult males that have offended and been convicted for sex crimes. This is as a result of there being few female sex offenders in the United States and juvenile sex offenders of either sex have differing needs, treatment programs and ongoing support specifically designed for them. Once an offender has been arrested, charged and found guilty through the judicial process, the Judge of the court will have to decide on an appropriate sentence for the crime committed. Once the decision on sentence has been made, adequate community protection has to be enacted, either through punishment, rehabilitation or a combination of the two (Rainn 2013). Sexual offending is regularly considered as ver... ... middle of paper ... ...ommitting the sex crimes after being released from jail. 70% of these registered sex offenders will go on to commit a non-sexual crime after being released. (BJS, 2009) According to these numbers it is believed that a very few will go on to commit sex offenses again after their release from jail. This can be mostly due to other people’s awareness that are living in the same community as that offender. Parents want to make sure that their kids are safe where ever they reside and will usually be aware of offenders living around the area. This makes it harder for offenders to interact with others in the community even though they would probably prefer to be left alone. With extreme caution from local law enforcement agencies and the concern from others living in the community, it can help minimize sexual offenses in the neighborhood and keep it to a minimum.
This essay begins with the introduction of the Risk-Needs-Responsivitiy Model which was developed to assess offending and offer effective rehabilitation and treatment (Andrews & Bonta, 2007). The R-N-R model “remains the only empirically validated guide for criminal justice interventions that aim to help offenders” (Polashek, 2012, p.1) consisting of three principles which are associated with reductions in recidivism of up to 35% (Andrew & Bonta, 2010); risk, need and responsivity. Firstly, the risk principle predicts the offenders risk level of reoffending based on static and dynamic factors, and then matched to the degree of intervention needed. Secondly, the R-N-R targets individual’s criminogenic needs, in relation to dynamic factors. Lastly, the responsivity principle responds to specific responsivity e.g. individual needs and general responsivity; rehabilitation provided on evidence-based programming (Vitopoulous et al, 2012).
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
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.
Park, B. and Lee, J. (2013). The effectiveness of Megan’s Law: Does it reduce the recidivism of a released sex offender? British Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 12(1), 25-34.
“Sex offending is a somewhat unique crime, as it directly deals with one of society’s most taboo topics-sex and sexuality” ( Zilney & Zilney, 2009, p. iii).
A 40-year-old serial rapist, a 12 year old young boy having consensual sex with his girlfriend. What do both of these individuals have in common? They can both be subjected under the Canadian sex offenders registry. However, when a rapist suddenly slides off the map and commits more crimes under the radar, one begins to question the effectiveness of the registry, and what can be done to develop it’s quality and accuracy. Another question which seems to badger Canadian society today is that relating to whether a minor should be a registrant at all, no matter what their crime, Canada has a strong belief in rehabilitation. Rehabilitate, and develop, both of the utmost substance when observing the ways in which a sex offender registry are and can be beneficial to society, whilst respecting the criminal code.
A sex offender is a person, male or female who has been convicted of a sex crime. The crimes that qualify as sex crimes can vary by state, but most include rape, forced and statutory, sexual assault or battery, sexual assault of a minor, child molestation, possession and productions of child pornography, or any attempt to commit these offense...
I am going to look at two books, which explain why people become sex offenders. The first book that I looked at examines four theories. These theories are psychodynamic theories, behavioral theories, biological theories, and empirical theories. The second book that I looked at showed some case studies of men that had committed sex offences and looked at some of the different things that caused these men to offend.
Keywords such as “how to reduce incarceration”, “effectiveness of incarceration” were used to find articles that were directly related to the topic. Prospective and retrospective cohort and case-control studies were conducted to see if there was any correlation between incarceration and behaviors after being released. Female and juvenile offenders are discussed and information regarding programs aimed at reducing incarceration is provided. The results suggested that incarceration can cause an increase in the number of sexual partners at the community level.
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).
There are many topics nowadays that are still hard to talk about openly. Though we’ve opened the door on many controversies, some of the simplest parts of life can be the hardest to discuss. For most of us, sex in particular can be a taboo topic, which may be the reason why so many children and teens are misinformed on the inner workings of sexual relationships and how they develop as we grow and mature. For some adolescents, this can lead to an unhealthy fixation on the concept of sex, and in some cases, lead them to take action on a situation they do not fully understand. Sexual offenses are perceived as some of the most heinous crimes, but how could our views be affected if those acts were performed by a teenager? We may sometimes consider that they are the same as adult sex offenders; however our judgment can often be clouded by our lack of understanding. Adolescent sex offenders are different from adult sex offenders, are treated in a different way, and often have very different circumstances of their crime.
In a study more than one half of all responding registrants reported having lost a friend as a result of public knowledge of their sexual offending. There is also evidence that family members of registered sex offenders experience persecution and threats when the information is public. Consequently, the offender might lose support from both friends and family, which further hinders their ability to rehabilitate into
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.
Yates, P. M. (2005). Pathways to treatment of sexual offenders: Rethinking intervention. Forum on Corrections Research, 17, 1-9.
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