Unseen Victims: The Families of Sex Offenders

Disenfranchised Supporters: The Sex Offender’s Family

Overview

I chose to write about sex offender families as I’ve seen so many in court that look pained, embarrassed, angry, lost and confused. As an advocate I was there for the victim and their family but the sex offender’s family often only had the support of each other. Court staff didn’t recognize them as anything but supporters of the offenders who didn’t deserve support themselves. I often had opposing feelings of empathy for them and sometimes mistrust. So because of my curiosity regarding the sex offender’s family I decided to focus on them for this writing assignment. I will focus on how his or her sexual crime(s) affect the family and whether or not there is any support in the community

Housing issues relating to sex offender registration include location of the residence. There are several restrictions about distance away from schools, parks etc. It’s difficult to find adequate housing in a decent neighborhood with the restrictions placed on the offender. When the offender and his family do find housing they are often rejected by neighbors and/or landlords and are forced to move. The neighbors and landlords worry about their own kids or neighborhood children. They also worry about property values going down because people don’t want to live next door to a sex

It’s important to note that there may be, in some situations, some responsibility upon the sex offender’s family for their criminal proclivity. Although, in the end, the sex offender’s acts are ultimately a matter of choice. Jespersen, Lalumière & Seto, (2009) found that sexual offenders experienced a higher rate of childhood sexual abuse than nonoffenders, but that rates of physical abuse did not vary between the two populations.

According to research by O'Toole & Jeglic (2014) childhood family environment factors may be related to sexual assaults perpetrated by sex offenders. Offenders raised by nonbiological or single parents seemed to be convicted of violent sexual offenses more often than those raised in a traditional two-parent household. Sex offenders who were raised by nonbiological parents, or were removed from their childhood homes due to abuse and neglect, or were not raised in two-parent households all appeared to pose significantly higher risk for recidivism than their counterparts.

Is Prevention