Sexual Offenders Essay

A more recent study, published in the same journal, by Looman et al in 2000 suggests the opposite. Of the released sex offenders they studied they found a 23.6 percent recidivism rate for those treated while a 51.7 percent rate for the untreated group. They also conducted an analysis separately on the outcome for men who had previous sexual convictions. Those with no previous sexual offense convictions had a 20.9 percent recidivism rate of the treated men compared to 42.9 percent of the untreated men. Of

When working with this specific population mental health professionals are often called on to evaluate and manage sex offender’s behavior. There are also times when individuals may be asked to give an opinion as to if the offender will repeat the behavior. Often times people that work with this population are referred to as (SOSs) Sex Offender Specialists. They have a specific group of diverse training and background. Some of these trainings incIude but are not limited to cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, and therapeutic orientations.

Because reduction of the likelihood of offender recidivism in the future is clearly a priority, the criminal justice system has begun to look into the effectiveness of treatment programs. The following body of research further discusses the purpose and effectiveness of different treatment methods that can be employed by psychologists with the intention of rehabilitating sex offenders.

About 43.9% of sex offenders identified both male and female perpetrators as opposed to 9.6% of nonsexual offenders. These individuals were exposed to more severe forms of victimization with a longer duration. Sex offenders endured an average of 5.6 years of abuse while nonsexual offenders experienced 3.9 years. Through the use of logistic regression analyses, Burton, Miller, and Shill (2002) concluded that method of operation and gender of abuser accurately predicts whether an individual will sexually offend. The analysis correctly predicted and placed 78.3% of the sex-offending males into their correct groups.

The purpose of sex offender treatment is to alter the deviant sexual arousal patterns, addressing social skills deficits that result in deviant behavior, to challenge the beliefs that facilitate sex-offending behavior, and to develop strategies to prevent sexual reoffending. To resolve the above mentioned problems involves the use of both medication and behavioral based treatment models. Medications that are used to decrease sexual deviant behavior include synthetic progesterone derivatives such as medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and cyproterone (CPA), luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist leuprolide acetate (LHRH), Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) (Fong, 2006; Dolan, 2009). Dolan

To the ordinary citizen, when a person breaks the law, they are titled as a criminal and receive a direct punishment from the state for their wrongdoing. This punishment is seen as straightforward and simple when in reality it is far from it. For instance, if a person were to be convicted of burglary and received a punishment of 6 years in a state penitentiary, the average citizen would think nothing of it. In reality, that punishment carries much more weight as time goes along with extended “invisible” punishments called collateral consequences. These punishments are not seen by the average citizen because they manifest outside of traditional sentencing and can stay with the offender permanently. Some of these consequences are restrictions

1. What has been the primary factor in the growth in the number of individuals under correctional supervision over the past twenty years? The primary factor in the growth of individuals under correctional supervision in the past twenty years has been due to tougher laws, correctional supervision also has a broader scope of people under supervision and there are more offenders that are sentenced with drug and property offences. Correctional supervision also includes people out on bond, probation and parole.

“Prosecutorial Remedies and other tool to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act “were passed in 2003. This Act allowed people to search different state borders for information on sex offenders in other cities and states. Some effective community notification strategies are alerting the public through News, press releases, newsletters, and sometimes door-to- door warnings of the sex offenders in the area serves a good purpose. Now days states are mandated by the Federal government to put the sex offender registry online so that anyone web access can stay notified.

I believe there should be a law requiring registration for convicted sex offenders. This includes the convicted sex offenders to check in with police when they move and submit details about their living arrangements. Law enforcement agencies with parole officers, mental health and medical professionals, and other applicable agencies should be working together to supervise convicted sex offenders. The registry should be mandatory and for official criminal justice purposes only.

pedophilia, exhibitionism, sadism, etc.) (Kaplan & Krueger, 2012). Dolan (2009) introduces a notion that involves combining cognitive-behavioral therapy with other methods to yield better results. Essentially, it is discussed in Dolan’s (2009) article that sufficient evidence exists to suggest combining cognitive-behavioral treatments with relapse prevention, intensive residential treatment, and community-based sex offender treatment programs can reduce the risk of recidivism. Dolan (2009) describes a combined method that needs further research but could be a successful pairing in cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychopharmacologicals/pharmacological treatments. Essentially, Dolan (2009) is introducing new advancements in sex offender treatments to be paired with cognitive-behavioral therapy because the research is leading Dolan to believe that this approach does not work on its

Chemical castration is a reversible treatment for those with urges to commit sex crimes, as well as those who have had a history of convicted sex crimes. This drug treatment helps to lower sex drives and decrease aggressive and violent tendencies. There are side effects to this drug just as there are for every other medicine on the market. Although it was not created for men, they suffer no extra side effects than the women. Chemical castration is an exceptional alternative to prison time or it works as a stepping block for integration back into society. It is a more cost effective alternative as well as being more efficient in correcting the problem as opposed to locking it up. With strict guidelines and continual use it can be the most effective course of action for sexual offenders today.

The treatment for sexual offenders is done in a three principal approach which is cognitive behavioral approach, psycho-educational approach, and pharmacological approach. The cognitive behavioral approach gives emphasis on altering the habits of the offended relating toward sexual offending and “deviant patterns of arousal”. (CSOM) This means altering the daily habits of the offender which may be everything they had known previously to incarceration. The second principal of psycho-educational focuses on altering the offender’s state of mind toward their victims and attempts to instill the understanding of how they inflicted harm with their actions. With psychology there is never a set time on how long a set goal will be reached. Times vary between individuals and can sometime never reach their desired outcome. In conjunction with those previous principals the offenders are also treated under the pharmacological

Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like

Russell (1997) informs that there are two forms of castration: chemical and surgical. According to Chism (2013), the oldest and most effective approach to controlling deviant sexual urges and reducing recidivism rates of male sex offenders is surgical castration. This is partially backed up by the data given by McMillian (2014), who composed a study of 104 men, revealing the recidivism rate as 3% for those who had been castrated compared to 45% with those who had not. Cauley (2014) identified cases where surgical castration has been used nationally and in the United States, showing that castration is quite effective.

The purpose of this literature review is to discuss the importance of sexual offender treatment, to compare and contrast research points regarding treatment, and to address the validity of the peer reviewed articles. Every year 6,000 sex offenders enter treatment (Waldram, 2008). Various therapeutic treatment options are offered, and the primary focus is to rehabilitate and change behavior. The body of research reveals different therapeutic treatment models and discusses the purpose and effectiveness of each model. This paper will also discuss some of the challenges of implementing therapeutic treatment schemas as viable alternatives to treat sex offenders. Lastly, the research will also examine the impact of treatment as it relates to