Discuss recidivism in sex offenders.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Despite the beneficial impact of reentry efforts, one group of wrongdoers has consistently been denied access to such programs: those convicted of sex crimes. The eventual return of these offenders to society causes such high levels of community anxiety that the criminal justice system has not yet figured out what to do with them. The fear of sex offenders reflects the widespread belief that convicted sex offenders cannot be "cured" of their criminality and therefore are destined to continue committing sex offenses after their release from prison. It is true that the medical health profession has had little success in treating the "urges" that lead to sexually deviant or criminal behavior. This has not translated into rampant recidivism among sex offenders compared with other types of criminals. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the rearrest rates of rapists and those convicted of other forms of sexual assault are among the lowest for all offenders. Furthermore, after analyzing eighty-two recidivism studies, Canadian researchers R. Karl Hanson and Kelly Morton-Bourgon found that only 14 percent of sex offenders were apprehended for another sex crime after release from prison or jail. On average, such offenders were significantly more likely to be rearrested for nonsexual criminal activity, if they were rearrested at all.Whatever their recidivism rates, sex offenders are subject to extensive community supervision after being released from prison. Generally, they are supervised by parole officers and live under the same threat of revocation as other parolees.