| MENU TITLE: Managing Adult Sex Offenders in the Community.
Series: NIJ Research in Brief
Published: January 1997
31 pages
52,474 bytes
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
National Institute of Justice Research in Brief
Jeremy Travis, Director
January 1997
------------------------------
Issues and Findings
Discussed in this Brief: Results of a national
telephone survey identifying how probation and
parole agencies managed adult sex offenders and a
description of a model management process for
containing sex offenders serving community
sentences. The model process evolved from insights
gleaned from field research in six States.
Key issues: In 1994, State prisons held 88,100 sex
offenders compared to 20,500 in 1980. Most will
return to the community, many supervised by parole
officers. Many persons convicted of sexual assault
felonies are sentenced to probation. The
distinctive characteristics of sex offenders and
the unique trauma they inflict require use of more
than routine, one-size-fits-all methods of
supervision. How can sex offenders be managed in
community settings in ways that enhance public
safety and victim protection?
Key findings: The survey and field research
yielded the following results and suggestions:
o The most commonly reported special conditions
for sex offenders on probation or parole were
court- or officer-ordered treatment requirements
and no-contact-with-victim provisions.
o Probation and parole agencies with specialized
caseloads were more likely to report use of such
community-safety approaches as emphasis on
after-hours monitoring of offenders and an
orientation focusing on victim protection.
o More than 80 percent of probation and parole
respondents stated that mental health treatment is
mandated for sex offenders under community
supervision.
o The model process for managing and containing
sex offenders on probation or parole values public
safety, victim protection, and reparation for
victims as paramount.
o The model process seeks to contain offenders in
a triangle of supervision: treatment to teach sex
offenders to develop internal control over deviant
thoughts; supervision and surveillance to control
offenders' external behaviors; and polygraph
examinations to help design, and to monitor
conformance to, treatment plans and supervision
conditions.
o Other aspects of the process are (1)
collaborative strategies relying on intra-agency,
interagency, and interdisciplinary teams to
develop a unified approach to sex offender
management; (2) consistent public policies
supportive of sex offender-specific containment
practices; and (3) quality control measures that
include monitoring and evaluation to guide
continuous improvement in sex offender management.
Target audience: Probation and parole officers and
supervisors, treatment providers, victim services
personnel, law enforcement officials, prosecutors,
judges, social services personnel, State and local
policymakers.
-------------------------------
Managing Adult Sex Offenders in the Community -- A
Containment Approach
by Kim English, Suzanne Pullen, and Linda Jones
Of the many factors that underscore the critical
importance of effectively managing sex offenders
on probation, parole, or under other forms of
community supervision, none is more compelling
than the devastating trauma[1] visited on victims
of sexual assault.
Such trauma falls disproportionately on children
under age 18 if data obtained in 1991 from sex
offenders in State prisons are any indication:
about two-thirds of them committed their crimes
against children under age 18, with about 58
percent being under age 13.[2] Less than 10
percent of the inmates incarcerated for sexual
assault of children reported that victims had been
strangers to them.[3]
Components of the trauma associated with sexual
assault include shame, self-blame, fear,
developmental crises, posttraumatic stress
disorder, and the threat or actuality of physical
violence, terror, and injury. Most profound in its
traumatic implications is the violation of trust
that occurs if, as in most sexual assault
victimizations,[4] offenders are known to victims.
Trauma and the length and level of recovery seem
linked to trust violation more than to many other
factors.[5] Thus, what might be regarded by some
as a relatively minor type of sexual assault
(e.g., "just fondling") can be extremely traumatic
to a victim who trusted the perpetrator.
The accelerating influx of sex offenders into the
criminal justice system further heightens the need
for effective sex offender supervision and
management practices, both in and out of prisons.
The number of adults convicted annually of rape,
child molestation, or other forms of sexual
assault and sentenced to State prisons more than
doubled between 1980 (8,000) and 1992 (19,100,
almost 5 percent of all State prison admissions
that year).[6]
State prisons held 20,500 sex offenders in 1980,
75,900 in 1992, 81,100 in 1993, and 88,100 in
1994.[7] The majority will return to the
community, many under supervision by parole
officers. In 1992, States paroled 7,382 prisoners
convicted of sex offenses.[8]
In addition, many -- more in some States than
others -- of those convicted of sexual assault
felonies are sentenced to probation or to other
forms of community supervision.[9] For example, in
Colorado in 1990, of those convicted of sexual
assault (5 percent of all felony convictions),
courts sentenced 60 percent to probation, 4
percent to halfway houses, and 36 percent to
prison.[10] In one notable area, Maricopa County,
Arizona, about 500 of the 1,300 sex offenders on
probation are serving lifetime probation
sentences.[11]
Clinical practice and research, and data obtained
from probation and parole officers nationwide,
indicate that adults who commit sex crimes should
be managed, treated, and supervised differently
from other criminals.
Although community safety is the central purpose
of sex offender management, characteristics of the
sex offenders themselves dictate the form and
style of treatment that will be most effective.
Not all sex offenders share all the following
characteristics, and the absence of a particular
characteristic does not mean the individual is not
a sex offender.
o Sex crimes flourish in secrecy. Sex offenders
have secretive and manipulative lifestyles, and
many of their sexual assaults are so well planned
that they appear to occur without forethought.[12]
The skills used to manipulate victims have also
been employed to manipulate criminal justice
officials.[13]
o Many sex offenders are otherwise highly
functioning people who use their social skills to
commit their crimes.[14]
o Sex offenders typically have developed
complicated and persistent psychological and
social systems constructed to assist them in
denying and minimizing the harm they inflict on
others, and often they are very accomplished at
presenting to others a facade designed to hide the
truth about themselves.[15]
o Many sex offenders commit a wide range and large
number of sexually deviant acts during their lives
and show a continued propensity to reoffend.[16]
In a study of 561 compulsive adult subjects,
rapists reported a lifetime average of 7 incidents
and exhibitionists more than 500. In this sample
of 561 voluntary subjects, about 54 percent
reported having at least two paraphilias; 20
percent participated in deviant behavior without
regard to victim gender; and 23.3 percent reported
offending against both family and nonfamily
victims.[17]
Knowledge of the actual dynamics of sex offending
is not widespread, but the public's awareness of
sex offenders is increasing and is often
manifested as outrage at particularly heinous
sexual assaults, especially those committed by
offenders under community supervision. In many
States, victim and family outrage is fueling
legislation requiring registration of convicted
sex offenders with law enforcement agencies, and
enactment of community notification and sexual
predator laws.
What is being done to manage sex offenders in the
community to contain them and thereby protect
victims and the public? Research sponsored by the
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and conducted
by the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice
addressed those questions through (1) a national
telephone survey of 732 probation and parole
supervisors and (2) field research in six States
(see "Research Methods").
The telephone survey focused on identifying how
probation and parole agencies managed adult sex
offenders (see "Telephone Survey: Selected
Findings"). Field research uncovered specific,
targeted methods for managing sex offenders and
led to insights that culminated in a detailed
proposal -- a model containment process -- for the
management of adult sex offenders serving
community sentences.
Five-part model containment process
The model process for managing adult sex offenders
in the community is a containment approach that
seeks to hold offenders accountable through the
combined use of both offenders' internal controls
and external control measures (such as the use of
the polygraph and relapse prevention plans). A
containment approach requires the integration of a
collection of attitudes, expectations, laws,
policies, procedures, and practices that have
clearly been designed to work together. This
approach is implemented through interagency and
interdisciplinary teamwork.
Consistent with the clinical treatment literature
and with dozens of local protocols developed for
managing cases of sexual assault, the model
process consists of five components, discussed
below: an overall philosophy and goal of community
and victim safety, sex offender-specific
containment strategies, interagency and
interdisciplinary collaboration, consistent public
policies, and quality control.
1. Overall philosophy and goal: community and
victim safety. At the heart of the model process
is a philosophy that values public safety, victim
protection, and reparation for victims as the
paramount objectives of sex offender management.
Protection and recovery of the victim and the
well-being of the community are concerns that
guide policy development, program implementation,
and actions of professionals working with sexual
assault victims and perpetrators.
In this approach to sex offender management, the
client is the community. Under this philosophy,
treatment and supervision modalities give priority
to community protection and victim safety. Orders
for no contact with the victim are sought at the
earliest opportunity. Whenever possible, the
perpetrator rather than the victim is removed from
the home in cases of incest. Confidentiality is
limited, and information is shared freely among
the management team. And the importance of
employment for sex offenders yields to public
safety considerations when prospective jobs are
high-risk because of the access they give
offenders to potential victims -- as would
employment as a school bus driver or as
apartment-complex superintendent with keys to each
unit. The energy and commitment of the probation
and parole officer is thereby devoted to assisting
the sex offender to remain safely in the
community.
2. Sex offender-specific containment:
individualized case management system. This
component of the model process focuses on a
containment approach to case processing and case
management that can be tailored to the individual
sex offender and his or her deviant sexual
history. This approach rests on the dual premise
that sex offenders are 100 percent responsible for
the damage they inflict and that they must
constantly and consistently be held accountable
for the inappropriate thoughts and feelings that
precede their crimes as well as for their illegal
actions. Three elements work together to contain
the sex offender:
o Sex offender-specific treatment to help
offenders learn to develop internal control.
Trained and skilled therapists treat sex offenders
in cognitive-behavioral group therapy to help them
achieve personal control of their deviant sexual
impulses, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sex
offenders are expected to understand and learn to
interrupt their individual offense cycles. The
effort to promote and monitor internal control
with an approach that overtly identifies dangerous
thoughts, fantasies, and feelings as critical
treatment and management issues is an important
departure from traditional criminal justice
intervention with sex offenders.
o Official supervision and monitoring to exert
external control over offenders. Probation and
parole agencies apply pressure -- through clear
expectations and through use or threatened use of
sanctions -- to ensure that the offender complies
with specialized treatment and supervision
conditions. This pressure to participate in sex
offender-specific treatment for purposes of public
safety inextricably links the mental health
community and criminal justice system.
o Polygraph examinations to obtain complete sexual
history information and to monitor the offender's
deviant fantasies and external behaviors --
particularly access to victims. Data obtained
during the polygraph examination provide vital
management and compliance feedback to the
treatment provider and probation/parole officer.
Maintaining close communication and acting as a
team, the treatment provider, probation/parole
officer, and polygraph examiner form a triangle of
supervision, with the offender contained in the
middle (see "Containing the Sex Offender in the
Supervision Triangle"). Sex offenders must waive
confidentiality of the information they divulge
because containment depends on the constant
sharing of information by and among team members,
other criminal justice professionals, family
members, and others, such as employers and church
officials.
In pursuing safe and effective treatment of sex
offenders in the community, therapists must obtain
full disclosure of offenders' sexual histories.
Sex offenders must examine carefully their lives
and recognize as dysfunctional the situations,
relationships, emotional states, attitudes, and
behaviors that they may be considering as
"normal." Use of the polygraph helps ensure that
offenders fully reveal their sexual histories --
information that is essential to the development
of effective treatment programs.[18] To the
observation that polygraph results may not always
be accurate, the rejoinder is that they have been
found to be significantly more reliable, on
average, than offenders' self-reported histories.
In jurisdictions identified by field research as
employing the containment approach, the treatment
intervention was group therapy, for which
offenders were nearly always required to pay at
least a portion of the cost. Individual therapy
may occur for specific issues and in limited
contexts but provides too much opportunity for
image management. Only in group therapy are
offenders exposed to the type of valuable,
perceptive, and corroborating confrontation that
occurs with fellow sex offenders.
A "cure" for sex offending is no more available
than is a cure for epilepsy or high blood
pressure. But use of a variety of interventions
can help manage these disorders. A realistic
objective of treatment is to provide sex offenders
with the tools to manage their inappropriate
sexual arousal and behavior. A therapist can, in
many cases, teach offenders self-management by
developing skills for avoiding high-risk
situations through identification of decisions and
events that precede them and through correction of
their thought distortions. Treatment focuses on
recognizing and managing deviant sexual behavior
and offenders' thoughts and attitudes that promote
it.
Research reveals that deviant thoughts and
fantasies by sex offenders are precursors to
sexual assault and, therefore, are an integral
part of the assault pattern.[19]
By instilling in offenders the dictum that deviant
attitudes and fantasies reinforce deviant behavior
and are not acceptable, treatment providers and
supervising officers are prepared to intervene --
set limits -- at the incipient stages of
reoffending patterns. Although such thoughts and
feelings are not crimes, they are signals that
constitute good reasons -- based on empirical
research and clinical experience -- to increase
supervision and "tighten the reins" on an
offender. This increased surveillance often
results in detecting preassault behaviors that can
be interrupted or, conversely, lead to revocation.
Using thoughts and feelings -- the stuff of
therapy -- as a starting point for risk management
is a marked departure from traditional criminal
justice supervision. Once a sex offender reveals
thoughts and feelings that are part of the assault
pattern, criminal justice officials can use that
information to develop and, if necessary,
continuously update an individualized treatment,
supervision, and surveillance plan. The top
priority of such a plan is to eliminate
opportunities for reoffense -- to protect victims
and the general public. In that regard, sex
offender-specific probation or parole conditions,
such as those that follow, play a crucial role:
o Your employment must be approved by the
probation/parole agency.
o You shall participate in treatment with a
therapist approved by the probation/parole
department.
o You shall participate in periodic polygraph
examinations.
o You shall not have contact with children under
age 18.
o You shall not frequent places where children
congregate, such as schoolyards, parks,
playgrounds, and arcades.
o You shall maintain a driving log (mileage; time
of departure, arrival, return; routes traveled and
with whom; etc.).
o You shall not drive a motor vehicle alone
without prior permission of your supervising
officer.
o You shall not possess any pornographic, sexually
oriented, or sexually stimulating visual,
auditory, telephonic, or electronic media and
computer programs or services that are relevant to
your deviant behavior pattern.
o You shall reside at a place approved by the
supervising officer, including supervised living
quarters.
o You shall abide by a curfew imposed by the
supervising officer and comply with electronic
monitoring, if so ordered.
o You shall not have contact, directly or through
third parties, with your victims.
o You shall abstain from alcoholic beverages and
participate in periodic drug testing.
o You shall not have a post office box number
without the approval of your supervising officer.
o You shall not use fictitious names.
Specialized surveillance officers can also help
determine compliance with conditions by monitoring
offenders through intensive field work. Duties of
surveillance officers may include searching the
residences and vehicles of offenders, monitoring
their activities, making arrests, attending
therapy groups, and discussing high-risk issues
with offenders and assessing their mental
states.[20]
The goal of the polygraph examination is to obtain
information necessary for risk management and
treatment, and to reduce the sex offender's denial
mechanisms. The examiner evaluates answers to
carefully developed questions as truthful,
deceptive, or inconclusive. Deceptive results flag
areas of concern that the treatment provider and
supervising officer need to investigate further.
Every effort is made to assist the offender in
obtaining a positive evaluation so that treatment
can be informed and relevant. To this end,
polygraph data should be used in conjunction with
other information when making decisions about case
management of sex offenders.[21]
Use of the polygraph raises questions about
granting limited immunity from prosecution to
offenders who disclose new crimes. Jurisdictions
vary regarding immunity policies. Some
jurisdictions, like Colorado, do not offer limited
immunity, but prosecutors make thoughtful
decisions about further prosecution on a
case-by-case basis. Decisionmakers in one
jurisdiction visited during the field research
concluded that to prosecute all reported offenses
would infringe on Fifth Amendment rights and thus
prohibit therapeutic use of the polygraph.[22]
Another study site grants limited immunity for
similar past offenses if the offender meets
several containment conditions, including actively
participating in an approved treatment program,
pleading guilty, and gaining employment that meets
the approval of the probation or parole
officer.[23]
Ultimately, success of the containment system
depends on the caliber of the last three elements
of the model process: collaborative implementation
strategies, consistent public policies, and
quality control.
3. Collaboration: a multidisciplinary approach.
The creation of intra-agency, interagency, and
interdisciplinary teams to develop, implement, and
monitor policies, procedures, and protocols forges
a unified and comprehensive approach to sex
offender management. Examples of such teams
include the following:
o Interagency policy and protocol committees.
o Law enforcement/child protection partnerships.
o Case management supervision teams of
probation/parole officers, treatment providers,
and polygraph examiners, among others.
o Intra-agency networks of specialized probation
and parole officers.
Members of interagency teams, for example, may
include law enforcement officers, child protection
personnel, rape crisis center counselors,
prosecuting attorneys, probation and parole
officers, medical doctors, treatment providers,
polygraph operators, and prison officials. In some
cases, members may also include school counselors,
crime victim advocates, and medical staff
specializing in child sex abuse.
Through systematic cooperation and collaboration,
such teams are an antidote to traditionally
fragmented intervention efforts. Teams improve
interagency communication, facilitate
case-specific information sharing, promote the
exchange of expertise and ideas, help break down
traditional turf barriers, minimize duplication of
effort, maximize resources, and often reduce staff
burnout.
Some intra-agency teams consist of probation and
parole officers who specialize in the management
of sex offenders. Teams such as these are
facilitated by job specialization -- the
assignment of one or more persons to deal solely
with sex offender cases. Specialization may occur
at the organizational level by formally creating a
unit to manage sexual assault cases, at the line
level by specializing work assignments of
identified staff, or at both levels by a
combination of those approaches. Specialization
enhances skills, increases communication, and
tends to improve consistency at all stages of sex
offender management, and is a fundamental
component of the collaboration process.
4. Consistent public policies. No matter how good
the design and implementation of sex
offender-specific containment practices, these
cannot function at peak effectiveness without the
support of informed, clear, and consistent public
policies -- the fourth element of the model
process.
Ideally, local criminal justice practitioners
should work with State legislatures, governors,
and officials from State judicial and corrections
departments to develop policies reflecting the
latest thinking about the management of sex
offenders. Whenever possible, practitioners should
help shape legislative mandates, executive orders,
and agency policies and protocols that support and
advance the public safety priority of sex offender
management. Clear and consistent policies define
agency responsibilities and reinforce practices
that, when operating effectively, will interrupt
any attempt by sex offenders to manipulate the
management plan.
Particularly important is the development of
policies that prohibit pleas or dispositions that
reinforce sex offenders' frequent refusal to admit
their crimes, to acknowledge the seriousness of
their actions, or to take responsibility for the
harm they have caused. The greater such denial,
the more the offender resists (or even escapes)
treatment and the more difficult the task of
establishing appropriate external controls.
Continued denial on the part of the offender is
also uniquely disempowering to the victim. The
following are pleas and dispositions that
contribute to and reinforce a sex offender's
denial or minimization of the sexual assault:
o Alford and no contest pleas. These pleas allow
sex offenders to avoid a direct admission of
guilt. An Alford plea is a guilty plea that
permits a sex offender to verbally maintain his or
her innocence at conviction. A no contest plea is
a guilty plea in which an offender neither admits
nor denies the charges. Such pleas grant sex
offenders official justification to continue
denying their offending behavior after conviction.
o Pleas that change sex offenses to nonsex
offenses. Pleas to nonsex offenses minimize what
the offender did and reinforce denial. Further, if
the official record does not reflect that the
original charge was a sex offense, this critical
information is lost to those who subsequently make
public safety decisions about the offender.
o Deferred judgments and sentences. Such
dispositions are important options but are
inappropriate for most sex offenders. Such
dispositions imply that the offense was not that
important, a one-time mistake, and if the offender
behaves for a couple of years, the court will
forget about it and dismiss the case, leaving an
incomplete official record. Also, public safety
may be jeopardized: in some jurisdictions,
deferred judgments for sex offenses are not
counted as convictions for the statewide sex
offender registry.
o Referrals to diversion programs. Applied to sex
offenders, this alternative to filing a criminal
charge further dilutes the seriousness of the
crime, reinforces offender denial, and may distort
the criminal history record.
Development of consistent interagency policies on
family reunification is also very important --
especially between probation/parole agencies and
agencies whose mission is generally keeping the
family intact or reunifying it at the earliest
opportunity. For example, family reunification in
incest cases should not occur prior to the
disposition of the criminal case. Subsequent
decisions on family reunification should be made
only after consultation with the victim's
therapist, the offender's therapist, and the
supervising officer.
The well-being of the victim -- and the potential
for other children and adults to become victimized
-- should be the fundamental criterion applied by
all agencies to family unification decisions. The
rigorous use of clear protocols for family
reunification -- protocols that fully explore the
offender's risk to other children in the household
-- may be the most important way the criminal
justice system can intervene to protect children
from sexual assaults by known sex offenders.
Additional critical policies on which to obtain
jurisdictionwide agreement are, among others:
selection criteria for treatment providers;
prevention of offenders from changing therapists
without permission of supervising officers (i.e.,
"treatment shopping"); third-party liability
(e.g., the duty to warn potential victims); use of
polygraph data; prerevocation sanctions;
revocation criteria; and sex offender community
notification.
5. Quality control. As the final component of the
model containment process, quality control
encompasses (1) monitoring to determine whether
the prescribed implementation strategies and
interagency policies and practices are in place
and functioning as intended and (2) evaluating to
assess whether what is in place is producing an
impact and, if so, its magnitude. Quality control,
therefore, can provide an objective means of
documenting program success, identifying
implementation and operational problems, and
guiding program refinements.
Because the sex offender containment approach
requires a long-term, consistent, systemwide
response to sexual assault, a model process for
managing sex offenders is one that continuously
improves. Such improvement is highly unlikely to
occur without implementation of quality control
measures. When systematic monitoring and
evaluation are accorded appropriate priority,
program staff and administrators are continuously
prepared with objective data to demonstrate the
value of their work and to modify the program,
when necessary, according to empirical feedback.
Secondary trauma
Management of adult sex offenders in community
settings often exacts a significant toll on those
charged with managing cases, including probation
and parole officers and their supervisors.
Secondary trauma refers to the emotional and
psychological experience of professionals who
expose themselves to a world of unthinkable acts.
Effective case management requires that these
professionals understand each victim's trauma and
the specific types of sex offender manipulation
leading to that trauma. They also generally
experience a variety of manipulative behavior
during interactions with offenders.
To offset the experience of secondary trauma, sex
offender management must be conducted in an
environment where the dynamics of sex offending
and secondary trauma are understood by coworkers
and managers. That understanding will provide
vital professional support.
Managers and staff must create an emotionally safe
environment for personal discussion of all aspects
of sexual assault and offender management.
Specifically, working together and discussing
feelings and problems as a team can provide the
empathy and validation so vital to reducing
isolation and burnout among sex offender
practitioners. Agencies should make every effort
to provide counseling and other resources to help
relieve officer stress. Data from field interviews
suggest that interagency collaboration and
networking may help prevent burnout.
Part of the remedy for burnout is training.
According to a Texas parole supervisor
interviewed, "Being pulled into an offender's
manipulation is the biggest problem. Because
offenders are so manipulative, officers need
constant training."[24]
Training
The complex nature of sex-offending behavior and
the potential dangerousness of offenders mandate
frequent training (such as annually) for probation
and parole officers -- both specialized and
nonspecialized -- and their supervisors. Training
topics should include, among others, the
following:
o Dynamics of victimization -- trauma, shame,
self-blame, and fear.
o Dynamics of sexual offending -- psychopathy,
blame, impulsiveness, and denial.
o Risk assessment -- secrets, manipulation,
grooming, and conscious and unconscious assault
planning.
o Issues about family reunification.
o Offender lifestyle issues, such as leisure time
and access to victims.
o Relevant laws.
o Safety of field officers.
o Sex offense-specific therapy and medical
assessments.
o Surveillance and use of the polygraph.
o Characteristics of sex offenders.
o Investigative methods, including sexual assault
crime scene investigation.
o Management of secondary trauma and professional
burnout.
In addition to direct training, cross-training
among criminal justice practitioners, child
protection workers, victim advocates, private
treatment providers, and other professionals is
important. "Cross-training allows physicians to
learn the evidentiary issues prosecutors face, law
enforcement officers and prosecutors to learn
about common reactions to trauma from rape crisis
counselors, and victim advocates to learn more
about the criminal justice system, so they can
better help victims prepare for court."25
Operational and research suggestions and needs
Besides the model process itself, a number of
operational suggestions for consideration flow
from a comparison of findings from the national
telephone survey with data obtained from the field
research and from extensive reviews of the
research and theoretical literature on sex
offender management, treatment, and victim trauma.
Among them are the following:
o Make training, including cross-training, in sex
offender management a priority at the Federal[26]
and local levels.
o Design individualized supervision plans for
adult sex offenders according to their particular
risk factors.
o Implement special supervision conditions for
adult sex offenders that restrict specified
activities, including barring employment that
facilitates access to victims.
o Develop a variety of immediate, short-term,
prerevocation sanctions for adult sex offenders
who place themselves in high-risk situations.
Those sanctions include 72-hour mental health
holds, short-term jail confinement, additional
counseling sessions, day fines, and halfway-house
confinement.
o Create within criminal justice agencies
specialized sex offender crime units.
o Facilitate collaboration across disciplines and
across agencies, including victim advocate
agencies.
o Require sex offenders under supervision of the
criminal justice system to participate fully in
treatment programs that are approved by probation
and parole agencies and that include
cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy,
polygraph monitoring, and waiver of
confidentiality.
o Consider imposition of long-term, even lifetime,
supervision sentences.
Research needs also are apparent, including the
need to conduct process and outcome evaluations of
containment strategies implemented in a variety of
communities. Not only should the model process and
its constituent parts be evaluated but research
questions such as the following should be
addressed as well:
What types of sex offenders are best suited to the
containment approach?
Do different subgroups of sex offenders respond
differently to different aftercare programs?
How can community notification procedures be
designed to enhance public safety?
What are the best assessment tools to classify sex
offenders into categories that are meaningful for
supervision purposes?
What jurisdiction-specific actuarial risk
assessment tools can predict sex offender
dangerousness?
What would a carefully conducted cost-benefit
analysis of a containment approach tell us?
Conclusion
The five-part model process to contain adult sex
offenders establishes a framework within which
agencies and communities can develop specific
practices to better promote public safety and
victim protection and assistance. Just as the
stringency of the supervision triangle should be
tailored to the individual characteristics of each
sex offender, so should the method of implementing
the model process vary according to the needs of
each community.
Incremental improvement in the model process and
in underlying case management practices will flow
from new research findings and feedback from the
field. But the bottom line of sex offender
management in community settings should not
change: public and victim safety first.
-------------------------------
Notes
[1] Wyatt, G.E., and G.J. Powell (eds.), The
Lasting Effects of Child Sexual Abuse, Newbury
Park, California: Sage Publications, 1988.
[2] Greenfeld, L.A., Child Victimizers: Violent
Offenders and Their Victims, Washington, D.C.:
Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, March
1996:1-2.
[3] Ibid, 11.
[4] Two-thirds of victims (age 12 or older) of
rape or other sexual assault in 1994 knew their
assailants. Sexual assault victimizations totaled
433,000 in 1994. Differences in victimization
rates by age were large: 4.4 sexual assaults per
1,000 persons under age 25, 2.1 for those ages 25
to 49, and 0.1 for those age 50 or older. Perkins,
C., and P. Klaus, Criminal Victimization 1994,
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 1996:1-2, 6-7.
[5] Hindman, J., Just Before Dawn, Boise, Idaho:
Northwest Printing, 1989:96-97.
[6] Brown, J.M, D.K. Gilliard, T.L. Snell, J.J.
Stephan, and D.J. Wilson, Correctional Populations
in the United States, 1994, Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, June 1996:18. See also Perkins, C.,
National Corrections Reporting Program, 1992,
Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 1994:86.
[7] Brown, J.M., et al., op. cit., 10.
[8] Perkins, C., op. cit., 58.
[9] A content analysis of State statutes as of
1992 found that first-time offenders convicted of
incest or other sexual assault on a child were
eligible to serve sentences of probation and
parole in 47 States. First-time offenders
convicted of first-degree sexual assault were
eligible for probation in 28 States.
[10] Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, 1990
Court Data Analysis Summary, Denver: Colorado
Department of Public Safety, April 1992.
[11] Arizona law (A.R.S. 13-604.01 [l]) authorizes
lifetime probation for certain sex offenders
subsequent to their serving prison terms and for
offenders whose sex crimes were uncompleted
(attempts). According to a spokesperson for the
Maricopa County Probation Department, about 500
sex offenders currently in prison are scheduled
for eventual release to the county to serve
sentences of lifetime probation; approximately
two-thirds of the State's offenders are based in
Maricopa County, Arizona's largest county.
[12] Pithers, W.D., "Relapse Prevention with
Sexual Aggressors: A Method for Maintaining
Therapeutic Gain and Enhancing External
Supervision," in Marshall, W.L., D.R. Laws, and
H.E. Barbaree (eds.), Handbook of Sexual Assault:
Issues, Theories, and Treatment of the Offender,
New York City: Plenum Press, 1990.
[13] English, K., S. Pullen, and L. Jones (eds.),
Managing Adult Sex Offenders: A Containment
Approach, Lexington, Kentucky: American Probation
and Parole Association, January 1996.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Strate, D.C., L. Jones, S. Pullen, and K.
English, "Criminal Justice Policies and Sex
Offender Denial," in English, K., S. Pullen, and
L. Jones (eds.), op. cit.
[16] Knapp, M., "Treatment of Sex Offenders," in
English, K., S. Pullen, and L. Jones (eds.), op.
cit.
[17] Abel, G., and J.L. Rouleau, "The Nature and
Extent of Sexual Assault," in Marshall, W.L., D.R.
Laws, and H.E. Barbaree (eds.), op. cit.
[18] The Association for the Treatment of Sexual
Abusers has stated that therapists should not rely
on offender self-report to determine treatment
compliance and that treatment providers should use
the polygraph to encourage sex offenders to
disclose prior sexual history. Association for the
Treatment of Sexual Abusers, The ATSA
Practitioner's Handbook, Lake Oswego, Oregon:
ATSA, 1993:4-5.
[19] Amir, M., Patterns of Forcible Rape, Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1971.
[20] See Pettett, J., and D. Weirman, "Monitoring
with Surveillance Officers," in English, K., S.
Pullen, and L. Jones (eds.), op. cit.
[21] Pullen, S., S. Olsen, G. Brown, and D. Amich,
"Using the Polygraph," in English, K, S. Pullen,
and L. Jones (eds.), op. cit., 15.11.
[22] Knapp, M., op. cit., 13.9.
[23] English, K., S. Pullen, L. Jones, and B.
Krauth, "A Model Process: A Containment Approach,"
in English K., S. Pullen, and L. Jones, (eds.),
op. cit., 2.25.
[24] Texas parole supervisor, telephone interview,
July 25, 1994. Jones, L., S. Pullen, K. English,
J. Crouch, S. Colling-Chadwick, and J. Patzman,
"Summary of the National Telephone Survey of
Probation and Parole Supervisors," in English, K.,
S. Pullen, and L. Jones (eds.), op. cit., 3.10.
[25] Epstein, J., and S. Langenbahn, The Criminal
Justice System and Community Response to Rape,
Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice,
U.S. Department of Justice, 1994:850. Cited in
English K., S. Pullen, and L. Jones (eds.), op.
cit., 2.10.
[26] The Office of Justice Programs, U.S.
Department of Justice, has initiated steps to help
shape and promote training in sex offender
management.
-------------------------------
Kim English presented an NIJ-sponsored seminar on
the results of her and her colleagues' research
before an audience of researchers and criminal
justice practitioners. A 60-minute videotape of
her presentation, Managing Adult Sex Offenders in
Community Settings: A Containment Approach, is
available from NCJRS for $19 ($24 in Canada and
other foreign countries). Ask for NCJ 159740.
-------------------------------
Research Methods
The research question: How are the Nation's
probation and parole agencies managing adult sex
offenders? Field research and a national telephone
survey were the primary research approaches used
to address that question.
Encompassing 49 States (South Dakota was not
included) and the District of Columbia, the
telephone survey sample was stratified by
population density and geography. During
June-October 1994, interviewers contacted 758
probation and parole supervisors, of whom 732
(96.6 percent) agreed to hour-long interviews. The
survey obtained basic information about policies
and procedures related to sex offender case
management, treatment and other court orders,
staff training, and interagency collaboration.
Conducted in 1994, field research involved more
than 100 interviews in 13 jurisdictions located in
Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, and
Texas. Researchers interviewed probation and
parole officers, defense and prosecuting
attorneys, law enforcement personnel, social
service workers, sex offender treatment providers,
sexual assault victim treatment providers,
polygraph examiners, judges, correctional
administrators, parole authorities, victim
advocates, and sex offenders.
Other research included a review of the research
and theoretical literature on victim trauma and
sex offender management and treatment, a content
analysis of sex offense statutes in 50 States, and
a systematic document review (manuals, protocols,
policies, etc.).
-------------------------------
Telephone Survey: Selected Findings
Findings based on the responses of 732 probation
and parole supervisors to a nationwide telephone
survey are presented in terms of seven supervision
issues that field research identified as vital
components of an effective sex offender
containment strategy.*
1. Specialized units or caseloads. Almost
one-third of the probation and parole agencies had
specialized caseloads. Those agencies were more
likely to report the use of such community
safety-related approaches as imposition of special
supervision conditions on sex offenders, emphasis
on after-hours monitoring of offenders, and an
orientation focusing on victim safety.
2. Availability of victim information for case
management purposes. Seventy-eight percent of
probation agencies and 63 percent of parole
agencies represented in the survey included a
victim impact statement in the sex offender's case
file, and about 30 percent had procedures for
informing victims of significant changes in the
status of the sex offender's case.
3. Sex offender management practices and special
conditions. The most commonly reported special
conditions of probation and parole were court- or
officer-ordered treatment requirements and
no-contact-with-victim provisions. About 10
percent of the probation and parole agencies
reported electronic monitoring of sex offenders;
the same percent reported use of the polygraph for
treatment or supervision purposes. Supervision
contacts with sex offenders were more frequent
than with nonsex offenders in most of the
probation and parole agencies surveyed.
4. Sanctioning and revocation practices.
Respondents indicated that supervising officers
required a range of sanctions to "tighten the
reins" on adult sex offenders when they began to
exhibit high-risk behavior patterns or to fail to
comply with supervision or treatment conditions.
Agencies following a specialized approach to
managing sex offenders were more likely to use
short-term confinement (jails or halfway houses)
as a prerevocation sanction than to use electronic
monitoring or to increase supervision contacts.
Sanctions that could be imposed in less than 24
hours were the ones most likely used, suggesting
the need for methods of immediate intervention.
5. Sex offender treatment. Treatment is commonly
required of sex offenders under community
supervision. More than 80 percent of probation and
parole respondents reported that mental health
treatment is mandated. Sixty percent of
respondents used an approved list of treatment
providers; 26 percent stated that sex offender
treatment services were in short supply.
6. Training. About two-thirds of the probation and
parole supervisors reported they had received
training in sex offender management, but less than
half had received it within the last year.
7. Interagency collaboration. One-third of the
respondents reported that an interagency group
meets regularly to discuss sex offender issues.
Most frequently named as participants in
interagency teams were law enforcement officers
and treatment providers.
*See English, K., S. Colling-Chadwick, S. Pullen,
and L. Jones, How Are Adult Felony Sex Offenders
Managed on Probation and Parole? Denver: Colorado
Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Public
Safety, 1996.
-------------------------------
Containing the Sex Offender in the Supervision
Triangle
Within the limits set by the supervision triangle
of probation officer, therapist, and polygraph
examiner, Jim was serving 4 years on probation for
molesting the 7-year-old daughter of a woman he
was dating. He had met the mother of the victim at
church.
Although this was Jim's first conviction, he
admitted he had long been attracted to young
girls. Jim told his therapy group that, over the
years, he attended church to "meet people." When
pressed, he told the group that he had dated
several women from the church and that all of them
had young daughters. But he denied that this was a
pattern that had preceded abuse.
The therapist called a team meeting with the
probation officer and polygraph examiner to
discuss Jim's pattern of accessing children. The
probation officer petitioned the court to modify
probation orders to prohibit Jim from attending
church unsupervised. The polygraph examiner then
added the question "Have you gone to any church or
religious services unsupervised since the last
polygraph exam?" to the next examination.
The therapist and therapy group continued to work
with Jim until he understood that going to church
alone was, for him, a high-risk activity that
placed him dangerously close to children.*
*See Strate, D.C., L. Jones, S. Pullen, and K.
English, "Criminal Justice Policies and Sex
Offender Denial," in English, K., S. Pullen, and
L. Jones (eds.), Managing Adult Sex Offenders: A
Containment Approach, Lexington, Kentucky:
American Probation and Parole Association,
1996:4.9.
-------------------------------
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subscribe to JUSTINFO, the bimonthly newsletter
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-------------------------------
Related Reading
Listed below are selected Office of Justice
Programs publications related to the subject
addressed by this Research in Brief. They may be
obtained free from the National Criminal Justice
Reference Service (NCJRS): phone 800-851-3420,
e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org, or write NCJRS, Box
6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000. When free
publications are out of stock, photocopies are
available for a minimal fee or through
interlibrary loan. Publications may also be
available electronically; contact NCJRS for more
information.
Epstein, J., Esq., and S. Langenbahn. The Criminal
Justice and Community Response to Rape. Issues and
Practices. National Institute of Justice. 1994.
142 pp. NCJ 148064. Describes organizational and
procedural changes in several urban jurisdictions
that have assisted criminal justice and victim
service agencies in combating rape.
Greenfeld, L.A. Child Victimizers: Violent
Offenders and Their Victims. Bureau of Justice
Statistics and Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention. 1996. 28 pp. NCJ 153258.
Presents national statistics that throw new light
on the most serious types of child abuse and
victimization, including sexual assault.
Prentky, R., R.A. Knight, and A.F.S. Lee, Child
Sexual Molestation: Research Issues. Research
Report. National Institute of Justice. Forthcoming
(January 1997). NCJ 163390.
Whitcomb, D. When the Victim Is a Child. Second
Edition. Issues and Practices. National Institute
of Justice. 1992. 176 pp. NCJ 136080. Overview of
the state of the art in the investigation and
adjudication of child sexual abuse cases.
Widom, C.S. Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse --
Later Criminal Consequences. Research in Brief.
National Institute of Justice. 1995. 8 pp. NCJ
151525. Summary of a research study examining
childhood sexual abuse and its possible
association with criminal behavior later in life.
-------------------------------
Study Reports
This Research in Brief is based on the study
supported by award 92-IJ-CX-K021 from the National
Institute of Justice. The study resulted in two
reports.
Managing Adult Sex Offenders: A Containment
Approach (1996) is available for a fee from the
American Probation and Parole Association. Call
606-244-8207 for cost information.
How Are Adult Felony Sex Offenders Managed on
Probation and Parole? (1996) presents findings of
the researchers' national telephone survey of
probation and parole supervisors.
While supplies last, the publication is available
for $10 from the Colorado Division of Criminal
Justice (Attn.: Office of Research), 700 Kipling
Street, Suite 3000, Denver, Colorado 80215.
Alternatively, a photocopy of the publication is
available, for a fee, from the National Criminal
Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Call
800-851-3420 for cost information. Ask for NCJ
163388.
-------------------------------
Kim English is research director for the Colorado
Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Public
Safety. Also with the Division, Suzanne Pullen is
senior research and policy analyst and Linda Jones
is a program administrator and staff to the
Colorado Sex Offender Treatment Board.
-------------------------------
Points of view expressed in this report are those
of the authors and do not necessarily represent
the official position or policies of the Colorado
Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Public
Safety, or of the U.S. Department of Justice.
-------------------------------
The National Institute of Justice is a component
of the Office of Justice Programs, which also
includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau
of Justice Statistics, Office of Juvenile Justice
Delinquency Prevention, and the Office of Victims
of Crime.
------------------------------
NCJ 163387
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