Probation for Sex Offenders: Is it Enough?

A sex offender usually has the strictest conditions of probation supervision, but is it enough? Reconviction data suggests that it is a myth that most sex offenders commit the crime again. However, if one looks at data on a large scale analysis by Hanson and Bussiere in 1998, child molesters had a 13% reconviction rate for sexual offenses and a 37% reconviction rate for new, non-sex offenses over a 5 year period and rapists had a 19% reconviction rate for sexual offenses and a 46% reconviction rate for new, non-sexual offenses. Those ratios might be lower than expected, but they are still a very alarming percentage.

Treatment for sex offending is still a developing field. The core approach used now is called cognitive-behavioral which focuses on enabling the offender to understand their behavior and modify it. While this might not cure the offender, it may help the offender think about their actions before they commit an offense. But, if a sexual crime is based on an urge that can't be controlled, it's likely that an offense similar to their prior crime might be committed.

What are some solutions? In my personal, albeit limited, experience, I've seen women and men who have no urge to change. They like who they are and what they've done or what they will do. This hardly makes them a candidate for rehabilitation or probation since they have no desire to live a non-deviant lifestyle. What I mean by deviant lifestyle is not based on their sexual fantasies or fetishes. This is based on their behavior that is against the law for crimes committed. They crave the power over children and other situations that put them in control and a lot of them have the belief that either the victim likes what is happening to them or that the victim needs their "help" in what is going to happen to them. This isn't true for all sex offenders due to the fact that some are simply offenders due to the laws that guide us. A 17-year-old boy who has sexual relations with his girlfriend is not the same type of offender that rapes an 8-year-old child. However, the law sees these perpetrators as the same; a sexual offender. There are provisions such as the sexual predator label where the person committed the crime doing something far more serious than a boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship. Many believe that those offenders don't need the same treatment, hence meaning they would not need the same type of rehabilitation. Is it feasible to consider sex offender probation rules on a case-by-case basis? A more flexible system of what the laws are pertaining to each individual case?

Perhaps a reconstruction of the entire system is in order. Wouldn't most parents feel more comfortable knowing that the sex offender in their neighborhood only had consensual sexual relations with his girlfriend rather than assuming that this person had raped a child? Or should the system throw out the rule that consensual sex with a teenager is a sexual offense? These are all valid questions that should be posed but does the judicial system have time to try to be fair to all offenders? Perhaps not, and this is why the probation system doesn't necessarily work when it comes to the offenders. Actual sex offenders and sexual predators have the propensity to commit another crime so perhaps they should remain in prison while the teenager who had sex with his girlfriend has no need to be on the program in the first place. While probation might work for some perpetrators, and statistics show that is quite feasible, how safe does that really make someone feel? I bet that has no bearing on how a parent feels knowing a sex offender is in their neighborhood. So, what is the solution? There is no black and white area in this equation. There are too many variables when it comes to these types of crimes. While some offenders might have learned their lesson and will try to start with a clean slate, isn't that urge still there? And how much temptation does there have to be before that urge takes control of their desires and actions? Is having a sexual offender out on the streets too risky to even consider? Is probation a valid solution considering the overcrowded prison system? Only time will tell if this type of punishment really fits the crime.