Source: stwnewspress.com 10/14/21
By the end of August, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections had more than 2,000 people incarcerated for sexual crimes against children, ranging from fondling to rape.
In that timeframe, there were 23 inmates from Payne County in DOC custody convicted of child sexual crimes, with several other inmates still being in the Payne County Jail, who haven’t been transferred to DOC after their conviction. There are 10 inmates at the county jail who have been convicted this year.
With so many inmates convicted of sexual violence against children getting in and out of prison every day, one field of thought asks whether these people can be rehabilitated.
There isn’t a clear answer.
Research and recidivism
Some experts suggest it depends on the individual and their sexual preference, as to whether sex offenders can be rehabilitated, and tracking recidivism of child sexual abusers is a challenge for several reasons.
There are so many things wrong with this article that I have trouble knowing where to start. Being a numbers guy, the assertion that “the recidivism rate for those involved in treatment was less than 3% and less than 1% for those who have completed treatment.” caught my eye. That 3% is not too far from recidivism rates for the general SO population, which were not reported in the article. For the fearful and uninformed, this leaves the impression that recidivism rates would be 100% without their specific treatment program.
I won’t go on and on. However I want to point out that the quoted “expert” from a second-tier university is listed as the “Director of Graduate Studies/Internship Coordinator” in the school of criminal justice, with no additional biographical data. She certainly doesn’t have the bona fides of those who are regularly referenced in forums such as this. She is hardly an expert.
This article is simply a piece of poorly researched, fear-mongering propaganda.
Veritas.
“A huge percent of those who are in treatment were sexually abused or exposed to sexual knowledge at a very young age,” Carter said, “but the majority of victims do not ever commit a sexual crime.”
Thought experiment:
What is the percentage of victims that end up becoming offenders? It is possible that the threshold of victims becoming offenders may be greater than 1% if you take in statistics on the total victim pool and look at how many offenders are out there with victim histories.
This article states that recidivism rates for those who have completed treatment is 1%, yet these individuals must be placed on a registry, many for life. By logic and the premise of equality in justice alone, this would dictate that all victims should be on a sex offender registry due to the potential future risk of offending. Of course, it is absolutely outrageous and inhumane to even suggest victims must register, yet that is exactly what we are doing already to some victims who acted out later in their lives.
Based on these arguments, the registry is illogical, inhumane, and inherently unfair to those subjected to it. Not inconsequentially, it doesn’t do anything to improve public safety either – and that is a FACT.
This failed criminological experiment has run its course. It’s time to put this in the trash bin of history people.
I’m unable to say how I feel about this situation so I’ll just asks the people, what do you guys think
“Can child sexual abusers be rehabilitated”
If yes how and if no why ???