Are sex offenders rehabilitative and should the government impose the death penalty on them?

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

7 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

10/14/2008

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

Criminal law

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Summary :

Introduction.
1. Academic debates on rehabilitation programs geared towards the treatment of sex offenders.
2. Highlights brought forth by psychological research and theory on the complexity of sex offending.
Sexual recidivism.
1. Wide discrepancies in figures.
2. General sizes of treatment effects on sexual recidivism.
3. Measure of sexual recidivism through examination of reconviction rates of sex offenders.
Recent overview of treatment program effectiveness.
1. Methodological differences in program.
2. Comparative analysis with Australia.
3. Evaluation conducted on the CUBIT programs.
Indications of international research study in 2002 addressing recidivism rates.
1. Kia Marama Treatment program for adult sex offenders in New Zealand.
2. Sex offenders are generally older than most other types of offenders.
The problem of low reporting and Kauffmans's assertion.
Various psychological models based on psychoanalytic, behaviourist, social learning, cognitive perspectives and explanations offered by them.
1. Micro level theories.
2. Integrating a single and descriptive theory into a more comprehensive model.
3. The Precondition Model.
4. Adam Walsh Child protection and Safety Act.
Conclusion.

Abstract

Recent, emerging academic debate has polarised opinion as to whether rehabilitation programs geared towards the treatment of sex offenders are in fact successful in reducing "sexual recidivism" (Marques 1999). Resolving this debate is a difficult task due to the inherent limitations of research methodology. For example, Macgregor highlights the point that "evaluations of programs are often hindered by the small sample sizes of treated sex offenders" (2008). Macgregor further develops the argument that if the barometer for measuring successive periods of offender recidivism post-treatment complete treatment is not adequate, this effectively undermines the reliability of any evaluations determining program effectiveness (Macgregor, 2008). Moreover, psychological research and theory has highlighted the diverse complexity of factors pertaining to the aetiology of sex offending such as heterogeneity of types, styles, process mechanisms and degrees of offence severity of offenders.