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| PREDATORS OR CITIZENS? November 19, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:Do we offer molesters necessary privacy or do we condemn offenders to life sentences? What are the statistics regarding effective therapy programs in keeping offenders from repeating their crimes? Is there leniency of sentences in the first instance by the criminal justice system? Why should someone who harms children not be denied the right to be out among potential victims undetected? What is an offender? And what is the purpose of the laws that make registered sex offenders addresses publicly available?
NewsHour Coverage
June 2, 1997
Should convicted sex offenders be freed after serving their sentences?
December 10, 1996
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over a Kansas man convicted of child molesting whose prison term is complete, but who the state does not want to release.
January 31, 1996:
In Washington state, there's a debate over whether sex-offenders should remain incarcerated even afterserving their sentences.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of law.
Jerome Martin of Great Barrington, MA asks: The treatment of child molesters is one of the most difficult disorders to work with therapeutically, even under the best of circumstances. Refusing anonymity to paroled child molesters is tantamount to ensuring that they will never be able to return to social and/or emotional health. It should be possible to have such offenders reported to the police in the community in which they settle, so they could be placed under surveillance, but with their records kept strictly confidential.
Either we offer these molesters the privacy necessary for some chance for successful therapeutic treatment, or we have to condemn all such offenders to life sentences, because there doesn't seem to be any alternative in between. Please comment.
Dr. Jerome Miller responds:
Although treating those who suffer from one or another of the sexual paraphilias can be difficult, there is a general tendency to exaggerate the putative "non-treatability" of such individuals - particularly those who have through their behavior, been brought under the onus of the criminal or juvenile justice systems.The most reliable surveys of the treatment research suggest that in fact, there is much greater hope for the successful treatment of sex offenders than many if not most, other offenders (armed robbers, burglars, aggravated assault, etc.) The most comprehensive review of the research has been conducted by a special task force se up by Canada's Solicitor General. They concluded that in general, appropriate treatment regimens can cut the recidivism rates among most sex offenders (pedophiles, exhibitionists, voyeurs, etc.) by approximately one-half . All in all, the rates of repeat offending were relatively low - ranging from 3% for incest offenders to 12 - 14% for pedophiles. A more recent 10 year follow-up study done in Vermont by William Pithers found a repeat offense rate for pedophiles in treatment to be approximately 7% over IO years.
Although I take some issue with your premise that effective treatment is so tenuous, I strongly agree that the worst approach is to further label, isolate, and in effect, make the average sex offender unemployable. Of the essence of effective treatment is the development of a supportive social network and the avoidance of isolation - which only serves to lead a person suffering from a paraphilia to retreat to solipsistic, trance-like, frequently perverse fantasy.
For these reasons, I would confine community notification to violent offenders and would, if possible keep only official police, probation agencies directly involved. The term "sex offender" is simply too wide a definition - dictated by the criminal justice system. As a result, community notification will too often be used inappropriately and lead to further problems, vigilantism, etc. - none of which serves the public interest very well.
Ms. Sarah Sappington responds:
Mr. Martin's question assumes that an offender cannot progress in treatment if his identity is known to the community. Many experts in the treatment of sex offenders, who regularly treat registered offenders, would disagree. Providing anonymity to offenders in the community provides them with a veil which allows for continuation of high risk behaviors. Specialized treatment providers typically encourage offenders to be open with others who have a right or need to know regarding their histories and potential risk. Secrecy is an inherent element of sexual abuse patterns and needs to be discarded if an offender hopes to maintain control of that pattern. Secrecy benefits only the deviance, and most certainly not the offender, the community, or potential victims. Prudent community knowledge about offenders can allow the offender to exist in the community if there is careful community education regarding offenders and the need for them to exist in the community.
The other concern is simply a practical one. Mr. Martin suggests police surveillance as an alternative to public notification. It is hard to imagine how anything short of 24-hour personal supervision of an offender would be at all effective. Secrecy is the child molester's stock-in-trade. They act behind closed doors and when others' backs are turned. Sometimes their sexual contacts with a child is the result of a lengthy process of grooming, during which they cultivate the child's trust, and in many cases the trust of the child's parents as well. At other times, the sexual contact happens suddenly and is over quickly. Child molesters threaten, cajole and use their positions of trust or power to ensure that their victims do not expose them.
It is unrealistic to expect our police to provide a level of supervision sufficient to eliminate a risk of this nature. The community must assume the primary role in protecting its children against the threat of abuse, and registration/notification assists them in doing so.
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