Posted - 10/06/2009 03:55pm
0 Comments | Add Comment Treatment for Sex Offenders
With the media's recent focus on the allegations of Tyler Perry and MacKenzie Phillips and arrest of Roman Polanski, discovery of Jaycee Dugard, and testimony of Elizabeth Smart, we must ask ourselves how should the criminal justice system respond to child sexual abuse?
Sentencing for Child Sex Offenses
The United State Supreme Court recently ruled out the death penalty for sex offenders who have not killed. Kennedy v. Louisiana , 554 U.S. ___ (2008). However, many states have enacted statutes which call for life imprisonment. California's response to child sexual abuse purportedly mixes punishment with treatment.
Treatment for Sex Offenders
Many mental health professionals believe that treatment of sex offenders will reduce recidivism. Indeed the Association of Treatment of Sex Offenders believes in the prevention of sexual by the responsible and ethical treatment of offenders. The California Coalition on Sex Offending asserts, “working together, criminal justice and forensic mental health professionals can effectively identify, monitor, interrupt and modify” patterns of behavior which lead to sexual offending.
In California is a sex offender is sentenced to prison, s/he is likely to be ordered to participate in a Sex Offender Treatment Program which may consist of individual and group counseling. If the offender is sentenced to prison, he may be deemed a Sexually Violent Predator and upon his release sent to a State-run treatment facility.
As a society, we must find ways to understand sex offenders and commit to treatment along with punishment.
