The people giving them a second chance need to be willing to sit down with the next child they rape and his or her parents and explain their second chance theory to them. We have almost 7 billion people on the planet we can cull a few of the truly bad ones out.
while earning my psychology degree "rehabilitation" does not work with sex offenders. As I replied to Joel, to avoid repeating they often have to cut themselves off from pretty much all social interaction and become reclusive in an effort to avoid temptation. This is the reasoning behind them not being allowed computers (sometimes they are allowed limited use such as in a job) or pornography of any sort (magazines, movies, etc.) and why they have to check in constantly with their parole officers. Of course, the temptation to repeat is why they have to register, so they can be monitored and kept track of. Hell, even murderers don't have to register once they are released, they just have to let their PO know where they are. Sex offenders having to register should speak volumes about how dangerous they are.
Minors who engaged in sex and people who urinated in public also have had to register, so it doesn't seem to speak volumes at all.
Recidivism is actually lower for sex offenders, but that's because they don't commit sexual offenses frequently in the first place. They have a higher probability of committing another offense eventually. On the other hand, a recent meta-analysis found that that community "treatment completers were significantly less likely to re-offend sexually or violently (7, 11%) than non-completers (19, 37%) and the no treatment group (42, 26%, w2 11.34, df 2, p 5 .001). Clearly, non-completers re-offended sexually or violently at the highest rate, more so than those who received no treatment" (Craissati, South & Bierer, 2009, p. 780). Suppose for now that these numbers are the most accurate available (unless you know a better study, of course). Now, say we've got 900 treatment completers in jail: about 100 of them will re-offend, but 800 of them won't. Is it ethical to keep all 900 in prison since we can't identify the 100 still-bad apples among them?
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Craissati, J., South, R. & Bierer, K. (2009). Exploring the effectiveness of community sex offender treatment in
relation to risk and re-offending. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 20(6), 769-784.
Blame the Victim: Religious leaflet claims "ungodly" dressed women provoke rape
- 04/03/2010 02:38:35 PM
422 Views
Sickening in concept, sickening in practice, and backasswards theology, besides.
- 04/03/2010 03:06:12 PM
215 Views
I don't know. There's something to be said for this way of thinking.
- 04/03/2010 04:46:29 PM
200 Views
I'm with you on life imprisonment for repeat sex offenders.
- 04/03/2010 06:28:27 PM
255 Views
if the vicitim is a child they shouldn't be given a second chance
- 04/03/2010 06:35:36 PM
258 Views
It's a tough call for me.
- 04/03/2010 06:43:04 PM
196 Views
there does have to be an element of common sense involved
- 04/03/2010 06:58:58 PM
174 Views
I believe in second chances after suitably long and thorough rehab.
- 04/03/2010 07:02:38 PM
192 Views
do you have any evidience that rehab works
- 04/03/2010 08:29:00 PM
196 Views
Yah, I'm not a big proponent of the "truly bad people" mindset.
- 04/03/2010 08:41:55 PM
193 Views
To the best of my knowledge from the studies and ocumentaries I saw in college...
- 05/03/2010 01:19:18 AM
252 Views
Re: To the best of my knowledge from the studies and ocumentaries I saw in college...
- 05/03/2010 02:28:59 AM
201 Views
Re: To the best of my knowledge from the studies and ocumentaries I saw in college...
- 05/03/2010 05:15:54 AM
208 Views
when they get to 100% let me know
- 05/03/2010 02:58:00 PM
188 Views
The problem with treatment and counseling is that it mostly doesn't work for offenders.
- 05/03/2010 01:11:04 AM
170 Views
It does seem that way, though it also seems chemicals CAN sometimes change the equation.
- 05/03/2010 01:21:36 AM
202 Views
I don't think the comparison to the Australian Sheik is relevant.
- 15/03/2010 07:04:08 AM
180 Views