Sex offenders
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Sexual abuse is a form of child abuse. Sexual child abuse can include a wide range of actions between a child and an adult or an older child. Sexual abuse can often times involve body contact, but not all the time. Exposing genitals to a child or pressuring them for sex is also a form of sexual abuse. Another form is using a child for pornography, juvenile solicitation, pimping a minor or sex trafficking a minor, and attempting to lure a child over the internet (Medline Plus, 2013). Most children that are sexually abused know their victims, they are either neighbors, family friends or babysitters (Medline Plus, 2013). Many researchers and states will define a child as a minor at a different age. For most states, 18 years of age is legal, and for other states 17 years of age is considered legal. There are also many European jurisdictions that consider 14 years of age as the consensual age and 16 years being the legal age.
In rehabilitating sex offenders, one notion that must be kept in mind is that not all sex criminals are alike. The National Institute of Corrections (1988) states that incarcerated sex offenders can be divided into two main types: child molesters and rapists. There are hundreds of child molesters and rapists incarcerated each year that will more than likely be released back into the community once their time is served without going through the proper treatment programs. Many people ask once they are released back into society are they still a threat and will they repeat their criminal like behavior or commit another sexual offense. The answer is more than likely yes. Going to prison or the county jail alone does not rehabilitate a sex offender. Sentenced to prison alone without any treatment program is only a minimal solution for sex offenders. There are other issues going on with the offender that need to be treated with the help of professionals.
Recidivism is extremely high among child molesters. Due to overcrowding of our prisons and budget cuts many sex offenders are released back into society earlier than expected without finishing their treatment programs. Fifty-six year old Marcus Berry is an example of a sex offender being released back into society earlier than expected. In 2009 Berry was arrested in Tulsa, after he abducted a two year old and molested her. Before this incident Berry had served 18 years on two separate cases of child molestation. A child molesters behavior is highly repetitive, it is almost like a compulsion (Thomas, 2009).
In ancient times, banishment which was also known as exile or deportation was an effective punishment because an offender was forced to leave their community and wander into the wilderness and would bring shame to their families and loved ones. These offenders were also unwelcome into other settlements or communities. In the United States today, many communities banish sex offenders from being able to live in their homes or complexs and they may be required to live a distance away from schools, day cares, parks or any other place where children may gather. However there can be some downfalls to banishing a sexual offender from communites and other locations. Restrictions can at times create a problem because a sex offender may not be able to find a place to live and be homeless, giving a false address which in turn can make it hard to keep track of them. A child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the unreported instances are far greater due to a child being afraid to tell anyone what has happened to them (AAOC&AP, 2012). Most sexual assaults will occur after a relationship has been established between the victim and the assailant. The assailant will then manipulate the victim making them feel confused and feel responsible for what is going on. Just like the case going on Cleveland, OH. The assailant Ariel Castro, knew some of his victims, he was a family friend and would manipulate these woman and use tactics to scare them into staying in locked up rooms for more than 10 years. According to the reports he would play games with them telling them he was leaving the house and would wait for one of them to attempt to escape. Once one of them would try to escape he would then “punish” them by beating them. A note was also found in his home after he was arrested that was suspected of being a suicide note that stated “They are here against their will because they made a mistake of getting in a car with a total stranger” in his eyes he did not do anything wrong. He blames his victims instead of taking the blame himself which is very common in sexual offenders. (Washington Post, 2013).
Sentencing a sex offender to jail or prison alone does not work in rehabilitating that offender. There are processs and step that need to be taken to help with these individuals rehabilitation process in order to be sent back into society. Recidivism is very high among child sexual offenders, 75% are convicted more than once for sexually abusing young people (Amlin, 2013). Some child sex offenders are released back into society only having served one fourth of their prison time or their original sentence. A sexual offender can be grouped into different categories or types, there is the repressed sexual offender, the morally indiscriminate sexual offender, the sexually indiscriminate sexual offender and the inadequate sexual offender. The repressed sexual offenders are the least violent and least aggressive of the sexual offenders. These individuals usually have low self esteem and feel incomplete. In their minds they are not a sexual offender, they are simply seeking a relationship with the individual and may sometimes ask for a date after the sexual offense is committed (Mosac, 2013). The repressed sexual offender will often times abuse their own children or coerce another child into sexual activity. The morally indiscriminate sexual offender does not have a conscience and engage in other types of abuse, as well as sexual abuse. These types of sexual offenders want to hurt their victims. They will target the weak and vulnerable. This individual will use their victims to extract revenge on people who have a close relationship with the victim. This individual is likely to kill the victim and tends to lose self control due to anger during the attack (Mosac, 2013). The sexually indiscriminate sexual offender uses the attack for personal dominance. This individual is addicted to sex and a variety of sexual activity is their goal (Mosac, 2013). The last type of sexual offender is the inadequate sexual offender. The sadistic sexual offender is the most dangerous out of all of them. This individual least resembles social and behavioral norms. They are characterized as a social misfit, who appear unusual. An inadequate sexual offender may be mentally ill and prefer