KEY CITES:
Section 3: SEX OFFENDER RECIDIVISM
Data at a Glance
• 3.55% of sex offenders on parole with CDCR had committed new sex offenses by the time the conclusion of their three-year parole period.
• A ten-year follow-up study of 879 sex offenders in the state of Ohio reported that when using sex offense conviction as the outcome measurement, of 34 % of sex offenders who have re-offended, only 8 % were re-committed for a new sex crime, plus 3 % for a technical violation judged to be related to a potential new sex crime, while the other 22% reoffended for non-sexual offenses. (p 9)
• The impact on victims of sex crimes from community notification efforts (passive and active) is unknown. To develop recommendations for ways in which the needs of sex crimes victims can be balanced with the public’s right to know about dangerous offenders in their communities, a study of sex crime victims is necessary. (p 20)
The most recent California comprehensive review of the literature regarding the impact of residency restrictions on sex offenders and correctional management practices was published in August, 2006 (Nieto and Jung, 2006). Marcus Nieto, Senior Research Specialist for the California Research Bureau and Professor David Jung of Hastings Law School reviewed the above literature and concluded that little evidence supports the rationale that residency restrictions reduce the likelihood of reoffending by sex offenders.
The researchers criticized the Arkansas study as lacking researched-based evidence to support their conclusion. Nieto and Jung concluded that the Arkansas study merely speculated as to the intentions of the sex offender’s choice to live near where children congregated, and the study did not actually track recidivism.
SUMMARY
What is certain is that the public does not want a sex offender living near where their children congregate. What is also certain is that sex offenders are less likely to reoffend if they are successfully reintegrated into our community. Residency restrictions appear to severely limit the housing options for and support for reintegration of sex offenders. The number of sex offenders who have declared themselves as transient or have absconded has increased dramatically since the implementation of Jessica’s Law. Whether residency restrictions increase community safety is uncertain. (p 132)
No comments:
Post a Comment