For these reasons, relying on rearrest and re-conviction data underestimates actual re-offense numbers. In , 97, forcible rapes were reported to the police nationwide, representing the lowest number of reported rapes since More recently, when examining slightly different measures, it appears that rates have continued to drop.
In , 82, arrests were logged for all sexual offenses, compared to 97, arrests in Federal Bureau of Investigations, and However, females also commit sexual crimes. Males commit the majority of sex offenses but females commit some, particularly against children. Alcohol use, therefore, may increase the likelihood that someone already predisposed to commit a sexual assault will act upon those impulses.
However, excessive alcohol use is not a primary precipitant to sexual assaults. Early childhood sexual victimization does not automatically lead to sexually aggressive behavior. While sex offenders have higher rates of sexual abuse in their histories than expected in the general population, the majority were not abused. Some types of offenders, such as those who sexually offend against young boys, have still higher rates of child sexual abuse in their histories Becker and Murphy, While past sexual victimization can increase the likelihood of sexually aggressive behavior, most children who were sexually victimized never perpetrate against others.
Sexual assaults committed by youth are a growing concern in this country. Currently, it is estimated that adolescents ages 13 to 17 account for up to one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all cases of child molestation committed each year Barbaree, Hudson, and Seto, In the same year, approximately 16, adolescents were arrested for sexual offenses, excluding rape and prostitution Sickmund, Snyder, Poe-Yamagata, The majority of these incidents of sexual abuse involve adolescent male perpetrators.
However, prepubescent youths also engage in sexually abusive behaviors. While many adolescents who commit sexual offenses have histories of being abused, the majority of these youth do not become adult sex offenders Becker and Murphy, Research suggests that the age of onset and number of incidents of abuse, the period of time elapsing between the abuse and its first report, perceptions of how the family responded to the disclosure of abuse, and exposure to domestic violence all are relevant to why some sexually abused youths go on to sexually perpetrate while others do not Hunter and Figueredo, in press.
The majority of sex offender treatment programs in the United States and Canada now use a combination of cognitive-behavioral treatment and relapse prevention designed to help sex offenders maintain behavioral changes by anticipating and coping with the problem of relapse.
Different types of offenders typically respond to different treatment methods with varying rates of success. Treatment effectiveness is often related to multiple factors, including: the type of sexual offender e. Several studies present optimistic conclusions about the effectiveness of treatment programs that are empirically based, offense-specific, and comprehensive Lieb, Quinsey, and Berliner, Research also demonstrates that sex offenders who fail to complete treatment programs are at increased risk for both sexual and general recidivism Hanson and Bussiere, Given the tremendous impact of these offenses on their victims, any reduction in the reoffense rates of sex offenders is significant.
Without the option of community supervision and treatment, the vast majority of incarcerated sex offenders would otherwise serve their maximum sentences and return to the community without the internal treatment and external supervision controls to effectively manage their sexually abusive behavior.
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. Further, many sex offenders plea-bargain down to a nonsexual offense. Still, there are other reasons to believe that recidivism rates may not be that different from what researchers have found. Frequent offenders are more likely than other offenders to be caught. Many safeguards probably help to keep the recidivism rate in check. Sex offenders released on probation are closely monitored, and those who are considered to be at high risk for recidivism are required to register with authorities.
These registries are distributed to law-enforcement personnel. Finally, states are legally required to publicly identify higher-risk sex offenders. The Department of Justice coordinates a Web site www. Levenson and her colleagues also found that a whopping 50 percent of the public believes that treatment for sex offenders is ineffective and will not prevent them from relapsing. Yet some studies have shown that treatment can significantly reduce recidivism for both sex and nonsexual crimes.
Hanson and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis on treatment and found that 17 percent of untreated subjects reoffended, whereas 10 percent of treated subjects did so. When recidivism rates for sex and nonsexual violent crimes were combined, 51 percent of untreated and 32 percent of treated subjects reoffended. The advantage for treatment over nontreatment does not appear to be that large; because meta-analyses group studies together, they may mask the fact that some of them found fairly large effects of treatment and others found smaller or no effects.
Results of this meta-analysis also suggest that we might be making progress. More recent studies show significantly larger treatment benefits than do the older studies.
Most approaches employ a number of treatments. The majority include two components: cognitive-behavior therapy, which aims to change sexually deviant thoughts, behaviors and arousal patterns, and relapse prevention, which aims to teach sex offenders how to anticipate and cope with problems such as feelings of anger or loneliness that can lead to reoffending.
Although the development of treatments for sex offenders is still in its infancy, studies show that therapy can make a difference.
Sex offenders are not all fated to repeat their horrible crimes, and we—through the actions of the general public, policy leaders and legislators—can encourage hope by supporting further research on such therapies. Already a subscriber? Sign in.
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