Juvenile Sex Crimes Recidivism
Prior to the late 1970s, a juvenile sex offender was not viewed as a threat to public safety with many experts believing that sexual offenses by young boys was simply part of adolescence. However, during the early 1980s, researchers found in interviews with adult sexual offenders that they began offending during adolescence, leading legislators to focus more attention on youth who commit sexual crimes.
Adult Sex Offender Treatments
Because there was little data on how to treat youthful offenders, interventions were often the same as those used on adults. It was not considered that juvenile offenses may differ from that of adults or that there may even be differences between youth who commit sexual offenses and those who commit non-sexual offenses. It has only been recently that researchers have discovered that youth who commit such offenses have very different experiences, characteristics and behaviors than adults. In addition, recent research has found that there are also significant differences in the rates and patterns of recidivism among youth as opposed to adults.
Defining Juvenile Sex Crime Recidivism
Before discussing research into repeat offenses by juvenile offenders, it is important to understand what recidivism means. It is not simply repeating the same offense, but rather a recurrence of illegal behavior after the offender suffers negative legal consequences. This may mean they were incarcerated, provided rehabilitative treatment or legally supervised in some way. It is difficult to identify actual recidivism, however, because sexual crimes are often underreported, both among children and adults. Because researchers use a wide range of data when reviewing crime statistics, it can be difficult to pinpoint specific percentages related to recidivism as well. A recent report by Christopher Lobanov-Rosovsky, which reviewed several different studies on young sex offenders, discovered several interesting facts about adolescent and adult sexual offenders.
Low Rates After 59 Months
According to the report, youth who commit sexual offenses have a recidivism rate between 7 and 13 percent 59 months after the negative legal consequences have been employed. There is also evidence that the number of youth who go on to offend sexually as adults is fairly low, which indicates that current policies designed to address youth sexual offenses may be providing the tools necessary for generic viagra http://www.canadianpharmacy365.net/product/cialis-generic/.
Rates Lower Than for Adults
The study also found that youth are less likely to reoffend than adults, finding that the average adult recidivism after five years was 14 percent, while juveniles demonstrated between 7 and 13 percent. For this reason, it is recommended that policymakers not equate adult and youthful offenders when creating policy to help reduce sexual offenses.
General Recidivism Higher
Although there are a small number of young people who will reoffend as adults, those who commit sexual offenses are more likely to commit other types of crimes. It appears that young sexual offenders may have commonality with a criminal who commits non-sexual crimes, indicating that the act of breaking the law is enticing, not the crime itself. It is important to note, however, that nonsexual crimes are more likely to be reported to law enforcement than sexual crimes.
Small Number of Offenders
Another reason it is difficult to identify recidivism rates among youth is that less than one percent of arrests for youth 17 and younger are for sexual offenses. It is possible that the low percentage may be related to the fact that sexual offense is often under-reported, but with such a low number to review, it is difficult to pinpoint which juveniles may re-offend and which will not. In addition, most youth offenses are for behavior that could be deemed more inappropriate than deviant. Youth offenses are not normally abusive or aggressive.
Different Sex Offender Treatment for Young People
One thing that the research clearly indicates is that adults and youth should not be treated the same as youth are particularly amenable to treatment. Using evidence-based treatments that have been shown to deter deviant sexual activity has shown promise in young people. Because the brain is not developed until the early 20s, it is easier to treat young offenders as opposed to adults. It has also been determined that placing the names of youth on sexual offender registries can actually increase the chances of recidivism. Offender registries cut the youth off from social networks, create a negative social stigma and increase isolation. This can lead to suicide, alienation and place barriers to becoming a useful member of society. For this reason, the attorney for a young person charged with a sexual crime often argues against their placement on a sexual registry.
Research clearly indicates that there are differences between recidivism rates of youthful sexual offenders and adult offenders once the youthful sex offender has suffered legal negative actions, including incarceration or legal monitoring. It is important to understand that there must be different treatments and punishments for youth as opposed to adults after a sexual crime has been committed. An qualified juvenile attorney will understand that sexual offenses committed by a young person are often errors in judgement that, although inappropriate, may not met the criteria of sexual deviancy and that evidence indicates the child is not likely to commit a similar criminal act in the future.
