Sex+Offender

Sukyung Hong ** Sex offender **

A sex offender is a person who has committed sex acts either by force or threat. Erlanson(1951) reports that the chances are about 85 percent out of 100 that the sex offender in any given case is a resident of the neighborhood in which the crime is committed. According to a study conducted by Water (1957), the leading characteristics found in every sex criminal is typically submissive, not aggressive, and has a marked tendency toward being effeminate. In addition, sex offenders in general appear to be withdrawn and isolated having trouble with involvement in social activity. Water (1957) also maintains tha t the sex criminal shows a “tremendous amount of confusion, distortion, ignorance and anxiety” in the field of sex. Intensive explorations of the sexual fantasies of rape offenders indicate that although many of them are maximally excited by ideas of consensual intercourse, for some violence and subjugation are necessary in order for them to achieve full sexual arousal(West,1983). For sexual offense, along with sadistic lust, sexual dysfunctions, or lack of socially acceptable outlets, attitudes and emotions that hinder the positive relations with the opposite sex play a large part. For example, even though many sex offenders have experience in marriage or a romantic relationship, their relationships tend to be turbulent, unsatisfying, and even violent which lead to a hostile and unfaithful attitude towards women. It seems that their disturbed unhappy experiences in childhood have a lot to do with their suspicious, hostile feelings toward women as well. Emotional maltreatment and parental repressiveness and hostility toward developing sexuality are as important in this context as overt brutality, rejection, or neglect (West,1983).

**Recidivism and incarceration**  Contrary to common opinion, the observed recidivism rate of sexual offenders is relatively low. A review of 61 recidivism studies involving close to 24,000 sex offenders found that only 13.4% committed a new sexual offense within 4 to 5 years (Hanson, 2000). However, it is to be expected that the observed recidivism rates are underestimated because many sexual offenses are never detected. The major predictors of sexual-offense recidivism are factors related to sexual deviance (e.g., deviant sexual preference, previous sex crimes) and, to a lesser extent, criminal lifestyle (e.g., antisocial personality disorder, total number of prior offenses)(Hanson,2000). The best way to figure out if a specific characteristic has to do with recidivism is to compare the recidivism rate of sex offenders whose characteristics are different from one another. However, since it is hard to tell whether some risk factors are more important than others, coming up with valid methods for translating the offender’s pattern of risk factors into a recidivism prediction is not an easy task. Incarceration is believed to be one of the major factors to deter recidivism especially for very high risk sex offenders in that it prevents them from reoffending through incapacitation greatly limiting the chances to commit another sex crime during their period of incarceration. There are three different perspectives on the association between incarceration and recidivism. From one perspective, incarceration is thought of as being an effective way to deter further crime. On the other hand, a second perspective views incarceration as an educational institution where sex offenders get absorbed more into criminal lifestyle and hence increasing recidivism. A third perspective is that prison doesn’t affect recidivism rate. However, according to Nunes et al (2007) there is no significant association between incarceration and recidivism regardless of how incarceration was operationally defined, whether sexual or violent (including sexual) recidivism was examined, whether risk was controlled, and whether time at risk was controlled.

**Managing released sex offenders ** McGuickin and Brown (2001) note that the Criminal Justice Act of 1991 extended the period sex offenders spend on license after release, and the Sex Offenders Act of 1997 introduced the registration of sex offenders on release. A Home Office report states that the register can help police forces by: · Providing a means of regularly monitoring known sex offenders · Facilitating the sharing of information wi th and closer links between agencies · Forming the basis of risk assessment and management strategies (p.5) Following the death of Megan Kanka, has been advocacy of community notification in many different states in the USA as a means of improving security and risk management. People see it as the way to protect their children and themselves from sex offenders. According to McGuickin and Brown (2001) there are variations between states in Megan’s Law, but most states have established a three-tier notification process, with the following categories: · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Low-risk offenders(notification provided to law enforcement agencies); · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Moderate-risk offenders(notification provided to schools and registered community groups); and · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">High-risk offenders(notification provided to the community likely to encounter the offender)(p.5) <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In general, convicted sex offenders must register with the police in the area where they intend to live upon commencement of probation or release from prison. Since their movement should be available to track down, he must inform the authorities of his new address within the particular time frame. Registration lasts for a set period of time ranging from five years to life. Bedarf(1995 <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">) indicates that in some states, the duration of the registration requirement is dependent on the severity of the crime <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Treatment ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Treatme <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">nt for sex offenders take four main forms: therapy on the mental health model, behavior modification, life skills training, and hormone manipulation (West,1983). Mental health model is operated based on the idea that behavior can be changed through continuous discussion of intimate feelings and personal problems involving the use of psychotherapy, group therapy as well as social work. The goal for this method is to bring about desire for change and motivation to turn into a more socially acceptable individual. For the behavior modific <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">ation deviance is attributed to defective learning and considered to be changeable by suitable conditioning routines. Some techniques have been attempted to encourage clients to develop approved sex thoughts and pleasurable orgasm. The simplest procedure is to encourage the client, perhaps with the aid of suitable erotica, to use his imagination to create nondeviant fantasies during masturbation (West,1983) The technique has shown to be apparently successful in helping some aggressive rapists to become more responsive to a normal sexual situation. Education and training in life skill have its aim in overcoming the ignorance, shyness in heterosexual relationship, and some problem among sex offenders like fears of rebuff, ridicule, or impotence. For some sex offenders, it is equally important to get trained in self-control, the avoidance of situations of temptation and the disciplining of antisocial impulses. Hormonal manipulations are used to suppress libido or induce impotence (West,1983). According to West, substantial doses of estrogens are demonstrably effective in reducing the levels of both libido and impotency and can be administered in the form of slow release implants that remain effective for some months (West,1983).

<Reference>

McGuickin, Gerard K, & Brown, Jennifer. (2001). Managing risk form sex offenders living in communities:comparing police, press and public perceptions. // Risk Management //, // 3 // (1), Retrieved from []

Hanson, R.Karl. (2000). Will they do it again? predicting sex-offense recidivism. // Current Directions in Psychological Science //, // 9 // (3), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20182637

Nunes, Kevin L, Firestone, Philip, Wexler, Audrey F, Jensen, Tamara L, & Bradford, John M. (2007). Incarceration and recidivism among sexual offenders. // Law and Human Behavior //, // 31 // (3), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4499535

Erlanson, Otto. (1931-1951). Then scene of a sex offense as related to the residence of the offender.//Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology//, // 31 // (3), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1137435

Bedarf, Abril R. (1995). Examining sex offender community notification laws. // California Law Review //, // 83 // (3), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3480867

Water, Marjorie Van De. (1957). Sex criminal not a "fiend". // The science News-Latter //, // 72 // (2), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3938903