Discussion
The study investigated the chances of recidivism among sex criminals even after rehabilitation and found that irrespective of the rehabilitation program a convict went through while in prison very many other factors came to play for example the age of the victim, gender, race, ethnicity among others. For instance, the data from Florida shows that the blacks who were arrested on recidivism cases were 37.7% compared to 25.1% for nonblacks.
The time which one stays out of prison would also be a factor where a sex offender may not commit the offense again immediately but after several years there is a high likelihood of the recommitting as evidenced in the state of Ohio whereby after five years since the release from the correction facilities more than three quarters (78.4%) had been rearrested on sex cases allegations.
The age of the victim is another factor that seems to influence recidivism whereby those who are jailed for offending adults are likely to commit the offense compared to those who harm minors as shown from the study.
The magnitude of the crime also determines the chances of recidivism as we have seen in the study among the following crimes: rapes, sodomy, assault, and abuse. The highest chance of recidivism lies in rape crimes since most of the time these are the hardened criminals in the society
The results of this research showed the evidence from Florida, Missouri, and Ohio and I believe there could be a lot of evidence out there that could stress the fact that recidivism among sex criminals is higher compared to other crimes. The main aim of the research was to show that through rehabilitation may help most of the times sex criminals are worse at recommitting the crime compared to the others (Gendreau, Smith, and Goggin, 2002).
Conclusions
We can conclude that sex offenders are much different from other criminals since the probability of their being reconvicted are high. From the above statistics, we can conclude that the chances of recidivism among sex criminals vary according to different factors which include race, age, the victim’s age, the relationship between the offender and the victim among other factors. It is a complex relationship as we have seen and maybe by combining all the factors we can draw some probability lines. For example, we can conclude that the probability of a black male committing the offense again is higher compared to a Hispanic female as we have seen in the study. In the same way, we can conclude that a sex offender who rapes an adult is more likely to repeat the offense compared to a sex offender whose offense was an assault on a child.
Though most of the times laws for the control and management of sex offenders are driven by public outcries, lawmakers should avoid reactionary responses that are based on the public sentiments but that does not mean enacting laws that are disheartening to the victims. If we could all identify the risk factors associated with recidivism of sex offenders then we can aid lawmakers in devising management strategies that would ensure the sex crime rate is low at the same time maintaining the safety of the community as a whole. As a summary, we can conclude that the relationship between recidivism among sex offenders and rehabilitation is a hard one to understand as there are many factors that need to be investigated to understand the relationship.
Recommendations
The country or the federal states in the United States of America should enact laws designed specifically for sex offenders and the laws should be harsh so as to discourage the chances of recommitting the crime again. Correction agencies in order to maintain public safety while enhancing the rehabilitation process of the sex criminal should monitor the offenders intensively in all their movements and actions.
It should also be made mandatory for periodic assessments of sex offenders on a wide variety of risks. How the sex offender is changing his behaviors, beliefs, whether employed or not by making him report to the authorities may be after a period of 3 or 6 months. We should also be considerate on how the prisoner and the prison wardens interact. It’s only after checking that the required environment for the sex offender and the safety of every citizen is observed will we address the issue of rehabilitation on the recidivism rates (Valentine, 2006).
No matter what the policy makers may think it is in my opinion that laws should be enacted that target the most hardcore sex criminals who pose continued risk to the community by sentencing them long jail terms so as to discourage others from committing sex offenses. To reduce the chances of recidivism among sex offenders it is also advisable for those people who are closely related to the sex offenders or working closely with the sex offenders to cultivate a comfortable environment with no discrimination or seclusion to avoid the chances of the sex offender feeling stigmatized.
In the situation where trust has not been regained fully, private meetings should be avoided to avoid temptations until everybody can see and feel that the sex offender has transformed and the risks involved when relating to him are minimal should you start relating privately. Some people say once a sex criminal always a sex criminal. Maybe it is true, may be it is not but no matter the situation always take care.
Reference List
Gendreau, P; Smith, P; Goggin, C. (2002). The Effects of Prison Sentences and Intermediate Sanctions on Recidivism: General Effects and Individual Differences. Web.
Valentine, D. (2006). Sex Offender Recidivism in Missouri and Community Correction Options. Web.