The two most common types of sex offenses are rape and child molestation, but others exist. In most cases, the victim, usually female, knows the perpetrator, generally male. 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. 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. She writes the following in her popular book Predators :. When an offender is caught and has a thorough evaluation with a polygraph backup, he will reveal dozens, sometimes hundreds of offenses he was never apprehended for. In an unpublished study by Pamela Van Wyk, 26 offenders in her incarcerated treatment program entered the program admitting an average of 3 victims each.
Faced with a polygraph and the necessity of passing it to stay in the treatment program, the next group of 23 men revealed an average of victims each. American Psychological Association. Amicus Curiae brief submitted in Stogner. Hanson, R. Factors related to the reporting of childhood rape. Home About Us. Recidivism: How often do Child Molesters go on to Reoffend?
However, these numbers are conservative because not all offences are detected. She writes the following in her popular book Predators : "The dry research figures only confirm what I have seen over and over in this field: there are a lot of sexual offenses out there and the people who commit them don't get caught very often.
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