By some estimates, one third or more of all sex offenders are under the age of 18, with some even as young as five years. Most begin to offend sexually in adolescence. Now what does the research tell us about common beliefs? First, the notion that recidivism repeat offending is inevitable needs a second look. Recently sex crimes researcher Jill Levenson of Lynn University in Florida and her colleagues found that the average member of the general public believes that 75 percent of sex offenders will reoffend.
This perception is consistent with media portrayals in such television programs as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit , in which sex offenders are almost always portrayed as chronic repeaters. The evidence suggests otherwise. Sex crimes researchers R.
Karl Hanson and Kelly E. Morton-Bourgon of Public Safety Canada conducted a large-scale meta-analysis quantitative review of recidivism rates among adult sex offenders. They found a rate of 14 percent over a period averaging five to six years. Recidivism rates increased over time, reaching 24 percent by 15 years. Hanson and Morton-Bourgon found that sex offenders had a total recidivism rate for both sex crimes and nonsexual violent crimes of approximately 36 percent over a period of five to six years.
Nevertheless, perpetrators of different types of sex crimes exhibit varying rates of repeat offending. The year recidivism rate is 13 percent for incest perpetrators, 24 percent for rapists, and 35 percent for child molesters of boy victims. When providing clarifications about the lower than generally acknowledged rates of recidivism, we must be careful not to oversimplify. Recidivism research is as difficult as it is important. For instance, although average rates tell us what percentage reoffends one or more times, we also need to be aware that a subset reoffends at a frighteningly high rate.
In addition, there are reasons to think that published findings underestimate the true rates. Most research necessarily omits those offenders who were not detected and arrested or whose victims did not report the crime. This tends to happen when the victim knows the offender on a personal level, which is almost always the case when it comes to a sexual offense. It cannot be a coincidence that the conviction rates are equal to the amount of cases that are perpetrated on strangers instead of someone who is known, a friend, or a family member.
Because there is such a hesitance to report a sexual crime, it is no surprise that a sex offender would be willing to spend years to create a reputation of trustworthiness within their community before committing a crime. This is one reason why there are so many victims. Shame may very well be the reason why boys are victimized so much more often than girls. Boys have a certain reputation in our society that they must fulfill in order to become a man.
If they are molested or raped, then the perception is that this makes them less of a man. They were unable to protect themselves. What kind of man is unable to protect himself? That negative stigma, the victim blaming, needs to end if we are to stop seeing the high levels of victimization that we are currently seeing.
The best defense of all is to just be vigilant. It is simply the way life happens to be today. Listen for your kids in the backyard.
Keep self-defense measures close at hand when it is dark outside and you are all alone. Being proactive may not stop every sex offender, but it may help to stop some sex crimes. Statistics About Sex Offenders 1. Predatory pedophiles, especially those who molest boys, are the sex offenders who have the highest recidivism rates.
Over long follow-up periods, more than half of convicted pedophiles are rearrested for a new offense. Pedophiles frequently are uncomfortable with adult intimacy and may spend their lives maneuvering to be near children. They may be extremely charming and skilled at manipulating adults, and they will use adult relationships to gain access to children.
The pedophile may spend years working his way up to a position of authority and trust within a church, school, or youth organization in order to have access to children.
Their offenses are usually predatory—directed towards children whom they engage in relationships for the purpose of victimization. However, pedophiles may also sexually abuse children in their own families.
Pedophiles are sometime referred to as "fixated," "preferential," " predatory," "extrafamilial," or "nonfamilial. Incest offenders are more likely to be non-pedophilic molesters Research has found that many heterosexual incest offenders have sexual interests that are indistinguishable from those of normal males. Data suggest that incestuous offenders, regardless of the gender of the victim, have lower numbers of victims and are less likely to be rearrested for new sex crimes after they've been convicted.
Non-pedophilic molesters may turn to a child for sex out of a perceived inability to be close with an adult partner, out of poor self-esteem, or to escape feelings of powerlessness and loneliness.
This type of offender often has appropriate but dysfunctional relationships with peers and may be married. These child molesters are sometimes called "regressed," "situational," or "opportunistic," and often are apprehended in incestuous situations. Outcome studies have demonstrated consistently low rates of recidivism for incestuous offenders.
However, it is important to note that incest victims are among the least likely to report sexual crimes, and incest is one of the most damaging types of sexual abuse to victims. Intrafamilial offenders may be among those most likely to benefit from therapeutic intervention. What is a sexual predator? The definition of "predator" differs from state to state, but is generally reserved for the most dangerous sex offenders.
Many states use nearly identical words to describe this type of sex offender and the offenses he perpetrates. In the words of the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act, "predatory acts" are those "acts directed towards strangers or individuals with whom relationships have been established or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization. Repeat offenders, and those who have committed abduction of children or adults for sexual purposes may also be considered predators.
It is important to remember that although recent media attention has been focused on child abduction and molestation, rapists of adult women can also be highly dangerous sexual predators. They often have many victims, and are more likely than child molesters to use violence or weapons to gain compliance from victims. The majority of victims of sexually motivated murders are adult women. Will stricter laws and national registries make us safer? In , following the abduction of an 11 year old boy in Minnesota, a federal law was passed mandating sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies so that their current whereabouts are known "Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act," In , President Clinton signed "Megan's Law," which requires states to disseminate information to the public about sex offenders who live in close proximity.
About half of the states in the U. There is no evidence that community notification reduces sex offense recidivism or increases community safety. Sex offenders who were subjected to community notification were, however, arrested more quickly for new sex crimes than those not publicly identified. It has been suggested that notification may, ironically, interfere with its stated goal of enhancing public safety by exacerbating the stressors e.
Fourteen states Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Tennessee have enacted buffer zones which prohibit sex offenders from residing within close proximity to a school, park, day care center, or school bus stop. The least restrictive distance requirement is in Illinois feet , but most common are 1, to 2, foot boundaries.
In Colorado it was found that molesters who reoffended while on probation were randomly scattered throughout the geographical area, and did not seem to live closer than non-recidivists to schools or child care centers Colorado Department of Public Safety, In fact, the opposite was found to be true -- a sex offender was more likely to travel to another neighborhood in which he could seek victims without being recognized. Public safety and child protection are understandably the primary considerations when sex offender restrictions are imposed.
Advocates of residence restrictions believe that such laws will diminish the likelihood that sex offenders will come in contact with children whom they might potentially victimize. However, concerns have been raised that such mandates might exacerbate the shortage of housing options for sex offenders and force them to move to rural areas where they would be increasingly isolated with few employment and treatment options Minnesota Department of Corrections, The dispersal of parks and schools may lead to overlapping restriction zones, making it essentially impossible for sex offenders in some cities to find suitable housing.
In some urban areas, offenders might be forced to cluster in high-crime neighborhoods. Such restrictions can lead to homelessness and transience, which interfere with effective tracking, monitoring, and close probationary supervision.
A survey of sex offenders in Florida revealed that housing restrictions increased isolation, created financial and emotional stress, and led to decreased stability for sex offenders.
0コメント