The Supervision of sex offenders

At least 97 percent of all inmates voluntarily return to our community, and as many as 20,000 sex offenders are released back into society each year after completing their respective sentences. This has proved to be a critical issue that has sparked widespread debate in recent years. Since these individuals are vulnerable to repeating their offenses, supervision of these members of society has become an important factor in modern sex-offender management efforts. As a result of this situation, adequate monitoring and evaluation have been established in order to ensure criminal responsibility. Probation and parole officers are charged with the responsibility to ensure that known sex offenders are not a danger to other people around them, and this also serves to ensure their re-acceptance into the society. To achieve this important milestone, many strategies have been employed. These include coming up with a sex offender registry to enable probation officers track the whereabouts of the offenders, location control to prevent these people from accessing certain places, technology concerns and treatment among others. These methods are available to probation officers, however all offenders are different individuals and therefore require personalized supervision techniques for effective supervision.

THESIS STATEMENT: every year, sex offenders are released into the society after serving their time, they however still pose a risk to the society and need to be supervised to ensure safety of the people around them. To do this best supervision officers are required to asses the offender and come up with a personalized program to enable them develop pro-social skills and to also prevent them from re-offending.

Abstract

Supervision of sex offenders is a key element in the containment model of sex offenders. This paper elaborates the methods available to community correctional officers according to the law that enable them to supervise sex offenders more effectively. The paper explains the best practices to achieve the best results. The paper also explains the negative effects of these methods to the sex offender and his family as well as the community and goes ahead to give recommendations to ensure criminal justice. The paper concludes that sex offender supervision should be carried out in a manner that limits possibilities of recidivism.

Method of sex offender supervision

Some of the methods employed to ensure effective supervision of individuals known to be sex offenders are discussed below.

The sex offenders’ registry

Most countries are now coming up with the sex offenders’ registry. The registry mainly serves to enable the authorities know their whereabouts. The registry also provides information; based on a court order, to other members of the community on the convicted individual. The community is informed of their age, address, physical appearance and the sexual offense they committed. The sex offenders also need to update the authorities in case they change any aspect of their lives that affects the information initially provided for example the address. Also based on the crime, the offenders are required to contact the authorities after a certain interval even though nothing has changed. Another thing that is based on the crime committed and the compliance with probation rules is the period of time to report. Some offenders are required to report for life while others are required for only a certain amount of time, for example ten years. This is usually the first step in supervision as it ensures the offender’s compliance with the law. It enables supervision officers to conduct random checks to ensure compliance of the individuals. Some compliance standards include, requirement to place signage in their yards during Halloween indicating that they are sex offenders. This method has proven effective since both the community and probation officers are able to keep an eye on known sex offenders.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment tools mostly used by community correctional officers (CCOs) include the Rapid Risk Assessment for Recidivism (RRASOR) and Static-99. These tools employ statistical and mathematical methodology to measure the probability of recidivism among sex offenders. These tools calculate the likelihood of recidivism based on historical information and other changing factors. Risk assessment enables supervision officers to allocate more resources to high risk sex offenders. Sex offenders’ behavior and risk posed to the society may change, effective risk assessment enables supervision officers detect these changes and therefore act accordingly. Risk assessment of individual sex offenders is therefore one of the vital steps in supervision of sex offenders.

Location control of sex offenders

Sex offender registry laws bar sex offenders from free access to certain public places like swimming pools, schools and libraries. Probation and parole officers can assess the individual offender and add other location restrictions for example they could be prevented from attending certain movies or events or places likely to be frequented by children based on the crime they committed.

Technological concerns and GPS monitoring

In the present times it is almost impossible to ban all sex offenders from accessing technology since most of the aspects of our lives depend on technology. However, sex offenders can still be banned from using their computers and the internet if there is a nexus to their crime (Tyson). As much as this step is necessary for some offenders, it is not necessary for most. However, supervision of their use of technology and the internet is important. Probation officers are tasked with developing technology usage agreements that specify when and to what limits a sex offender can use technology and access the internet based on the nature of their convicted crime. Probation officers are allowed to conduct searches of the offender’s device and establish whether they are violating the agreement. If so, the officers can revoke their use of technology through the courts.

Technology through the GPS system has also proven to be an effective way to monitor individual sex offenders. This way probation and parole officers are able to tell the whereabouts of these individuals more easily. Also it is possible to set inclusion areas and exclusion areas for the offenders such that the officer is notified any time a sex offender gets into an area that they are not permitted. GPS monitoring does not necessarily prevent offenders from committing crimes but it provides supervision officers evidence of their whereabouts and potential violation of probation rules. Certain laws even place offenders on GPS monitoring for some period of time after serving their supervision sentence.

Polygraph examinations

Supervision officers and community correction officers find polygraphs an important tool in supervision of sex offenders. Polygraphs are used to monitor progress of treatment and to monitor compliance with the conditions of supervision. They are also key in uncovering sexual history of the individuals in a bid to establish past sexual offenses. These tests may also reveal some aspects of the offender that are not previously established such as substance abuse and number of victims. These tests help officers reveal any violations of the offender’s terms of release while enabling them to put in place personalized strategies to more effectively supervise the offender.

Treatment information

Treatment for sex offenders goes on after they serve their terms. Treatment is an important aspect to consider when trying to containing sex offenses since offenders are equipped with skills on how to manage their urge to commit sexual offenses, and this limits the risk they pose to other members of the society. In supervision however, treatment is important in that information on the treatment progress and any changes in the offender’s behavior is shared with probation officers by the treatment service provider. Treatment information is vital as it provides an indication of the offender’s offense cycle and also enables supervision officers to establish the level of risk that the individual poses to other members of the community. Access to treatment information has proven to be an important tool for supervision officers in ensuring effective supervision of sex offenders.

Random home visits

Probation and parole officers together with other law enforcement officers conduct random joint home visits to offenders’ addresses in order to limit the risk they pose to the community. These visits serve to increase the accuracy of the information provided by the offender in the registry and to also increase the accountability of the offender. I most cases the offenders waive their fourth amendment right to privacy and this allows the supervision officers to search their homes and cars at either random or scheduled times. The home visits send a strong message to both the offender and the community that the justice system takes sex offences seriously. Radom visits have ensured that the offenders stay accountable and have also enabled more effective supervision of sex offenders.

Victim information

Supervision officers may collect information about the offender’s victim and the events leading to the crime in the investigation report. The general information about the victim will enable the supervision officer to better understand the patterns of the offender’s offences and to also determine their level of risk to the community. This information is shared by the public and law enforcement officers to better supervise the offender. The information enables law enforcement officers to predict the behavior of individual offenders and establish potential risk before re-offending takes place. Important victim information to be considered includes the victim’s age, gender and relationship with the offender.

Updated photo

In many jurisdictions, sex offenders ae required to provide their probation officers with an updated photo of their physical appearance. In most cases CCOs will take photos of their probationers on every meeting. The photo serves to detect attempts by sex offenders to change their appearance in order to escape detection. The photo enables law enforcement officers to effectively locate offenders that violate probation laws.

Employment schedule

Another way to effectively keep an eye on sex offenders is by putting certain restrictions on their employment schedule. Community correctional officers (CCOs) must inspect and approve employment for all sex offenders to make sure they don’t violate the terms of supervision. On top of that, offenders must notify the CCOs in case they want to change their employment or when they lose their jobs. For example if a sex offender has access to the internet, a computer or technology that can be used to stage a sexual offense or if the job entails a lot of travelling that may make supervision hard, the CCO can bar a sex offender from taking up an employment opportunity. The employment schedule further enables supervision officer to predict the whereabouts of the offenders, this information is particularly important in the case of offenders who violate supervision rules.

Limitations of sex offender supervision

Sex offender recidivism has become a major public health concern in the United States of America. Given this fact it is important to closely supervise sex offenders on probation and parole. However, these supervision methods have negative impacts both on the individual sex offenders and even the general community as discussed below.

Most sex crimes go unreported because many are committed by trusted members of the society. These members of the society get away with sex offenses by victim manipulation; it could be teachers, parents or even members of the clergy. The supervision methods put in place by probation and parole officers tend to give the community some sense of security that is false since most sex offenders live incognito in the society. Since supervision focuses mostly on convicted sex offenders, sex offenses by other members of the community tend to be overlooked.

For example recently lawsuits uncovered that the catholic church has hidden many sex offenses against children that they are supposed to be protecting all in the name of protecting the reputation of the church.

Location restrictions have proven to be an impediment to rehabilitation and may lead to eventual reoffending. Individuals leaving prisons in trying to transition into the society are faced with numerous challenges including financial problems. Banishment laws drive sex offenders to leave societies that they enjoy social support networks into communities that they do not enjoy such kind of support. This puts resident in their new communities at risk, furthermore, it makes supervision harder for correctional officers.

Many countries have come up with online registries for sex offenders. These registries do not limit access therefore impacting negatively on the privacy of the individuals in the registry. When such information spills to the public domain, the sex offenders are prone to losing jobs and evictions among other forms of social exclusion. The kind of stigma associated with sex offending can easily result to reoffending. Another concern of setting exclusion and inclusion zones for offenders is that it may lead to concentration of sex offenders in certain areas.

Conclusion

Every year a set of sex offenders are released back to the community after serving their terms. These individual pose a risk to the society since they are likely to repeat their offenses, therefore after their jail terms, they serve probation periods where they are supervised by supervision officers to prevent recidivism. Supervision and probation officers in ensuring the safety of the community employ certain supervision skills allowed to them by the law. Such laws include residency restrictions, registration as sex offenders in the sex offenders’ registry, GPS and electronic monitoring and employment restriction and polygraph examinations. These methods of supervision benefit the public but they tend to have some adverse effects on the sex offenders, their families and even the very public if not conducted in the most professional way. Registered sex offenders face job loss, evictions, ostracism, harassments and some have even been killed. Their families have also faced stigma and intimidation. Such kind of social stigma also poses a threat to the community because it increases chances of recidivism among sex offenders.

Recommendations

Instead of banishing sex offenders while expecting them to cope in hostile environments, community correctional officers should channel resources toward programs that will ensure sex offenses do not occur in the first place. Such programs include public education on the effects of sex offenses and treatment of known sex offenders and their victims.

Residency restrictions should be eliminated as they only serve to promote homelessness

Limit registration laws to sex offenders who have been convicted of serious crimes and those whom through risk assessment have been established to pose a significant risk to members of the community.

We should prevent unlimited access to information in the registry by removing online registries that allow public access. Community notification should be done professionally and only for those registrants who pose a high risk of recidivism.

More emphasis should be put in investigating sex offences in the community and not just supervision of known sexual offenders. This is because most offenses are committed by respected people in society et resources are channeled toward supervision of petty sex offenders such as oral sex offenders.

Works cited

“No Easy Answers | Sex Offender Laws In The US.” Human Rights Watch. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

“US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good.” Human Rights Watch. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

“Welcome To Supervision Of Sex Offenders In The Community: A Training Curriculum.” Csom.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

howard, tyson. “How A Probation And Parole Officer Should Supervise Sex Offenders.” CorrectionsOne. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

Jacobs, Deborah. “Why Sex Offender Laws Do More Harm Than Good.” Aclu-nj.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

Lobanov-Rostovsky, Christopher. “Chapter 8: Sex Offender Management Strategies | Sex Offender Management Assessment And Planning Initiative.” Smart.gov. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Nov. 2017.

Stalans, Lorretta. “Adult Sex Offenders On Community Supervisioncriminal Justice And Behavior - Loretta J. Stalans, 2004.” Journals.sagepub.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.