Recidivism of Sex Offenders, full report & Statistics by the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) summarizes current research on the reoffense rates of sex offenders and explores important issues in defining recidivism. It focuses primarily on adult male offenders, describing "factors and conditions that appear to be associated with reduced sexual offending" and, explores how these findings might impact sex offender management.
The section on measuring sex offender recidivism provides explanations to assist practitioners in understanding research variables including:
- how is the sex offender population defined?
- does recidivism includes subsequent arrest or/and subsequent conviction, or/and subsequent incarceration?
- which offense types (sexual offenses versus any criminal offense) qualify as recidivating offenses?
- does the study follow-up with sex offenders for long enough to truly capture the recidivism being measured (e.g. one year versus 5 years versus 25 years)?
The section on risk factors associated with sex offender recidivism describes static factors (historical characteristics such as age, prior offense history) and dynamic factors (e.g. characteristics, circumstances and attitudes such as drug or alcohol use, victim blaming attitudes, intimacy problems) and urges the identification of "positive dynamic factors to decrease risk of recidivism.
Some points from the report include:
- studies of general criminal recidivism find criminal offenders are unlikely to specialize. However, studies also find that whereas sex offenders may commit other crimes, other types of offenders rarely commit sex offenses.(p.5)
- instruments to predict general recidivism are not necessarily applicable to determining sex offender recidivism (p.5)
- being sexually abused as a child was not found to be related to becoming a repeat sex offender(p.11)
- The underreporting of sexual assault contributes to the underreporting of recidivism which leads to sex offenders having a low base rate (defined as the overall rate of recidivism of an entire group of offenders). This low base rate problem decreasesour ability to accurately predict recidivism.
- Studies show different base rates for different types of sex offenses. For example, child molesters have a higher rate of rearrest than rapists (52% versus 39 percent when tracked over 25 years).
- One review of recidivism rates (p.7) found: "Incest offenders ranged between 4 and 10 percent. Rapists ranged between 7 and 35 percent. Child molesters with female victims ranged between 10 and 29 percent. Child molesters with male victims ranged between 13 and 40 percent. Exhibitionists ranged between 41 and 71 percent."
- Several studies and interviews of sex offenders support the claim that sex offender recidivism is highly underreported, with imprisoned perpetrators having many times more victims than the official criminal reports record.(p.3)
- Typical sex offender treatment approaches are highlighted as a (1) cognitive -behavioral approach, a pyscho-educational approach, and the pharmacological approach. (p.12) Literature reviews show the "cognitive behavioral approach holds considerable promise" in decreasing sex offender recidivism. (p.16) Characteristics of a more effective treatment program include: "skills-based training, modeling of pro-social behaviors and attitudes, a directive but non-punitive orientation, a focus on modification of precursors to criminal behavior, and a supervised community component"(Quinsey, 1998)
The Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Office of Justice Programs, the National Institute of Corrections, and the State Justice Institute; it is administered by the Center for Effective Public Policy and the American Probaion and Parole Association.
Comments to consider around parole hearings for sex offenders
- In parole board hearings, a victim may find it useful to ask and learn exactly how that particular parole board measures the risk of their perpetrator's recidivism. For example, some parole board hearings consider an offender less likely to reoffend and less dangerous if he is now married or in a committed relationship. Yet, one study's findings of extra-familial child molesters (e.g. not part of the child's family) included that those committing subsequent sex offenses were "more likely to have been married".(p.9)
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