Anyone think it's possible to rehab sex offenders?

[jdj]

In case y'all didn't hear, the little girl in FL that was abducted three weeks ago, a reg. sex offender just confessed tonight to her murder, though they haven't found the body.

Does anyone have any links...any therapists out there...anyone care to garner an opinion about why their rate of recidivism is so high and why the always seem to re-offend?

Is it really hopeless? I have my own theories about this and link it with the fact that it is almost verboten for men to talk about their victimization, aka rape, as children, although not all men who've been so victimized become perps. I have my money on the ones that are the worst being the ones that have absolutely no connection with their own abuse.

Some people say it's simple chemical insanity, like some have asserted that Ted Bundy had an irregular cluster of veins or something at the base of his brain (no link, just hearsay).

I think we need to come to a consensus on this and find a solution or declare there isn't one and give these guys life without parole automatically. I wonder if that were the automatic sentence, if the rate of these crimes would go up or down, or if more would become murderers to protect themselves.

Feedback?

[Jackson4Gore]

1. Nope

I don't believe it can be completely. I think they can get help to control their urges, but it will never go away. It is firmly implanted in their head much the same way as homosexuality is, which is not treateable.

[Dookus]

48. Interesting...

is it not also as ingrained as heterosexuality, for which there is no treatment?

[ultraist]

56. Good point.

I cringed when I read that comparison and the "not treatable" part.

People are not born pedophiles. Envio plays a very big role.

[norml]

2. As with so many things it depends on the individual case.

Rehab is possible for some, not for others.

[norml]

9. It would also depend on the severity of their crime.

The less reprehensible the offense, the better the possibility of rehabilitation.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. I worked as a counselor in a sex offender treatment-oriented

prison for a while back in the '80s. I think generally there is a better chance of rehabilitating SOME rapists (certainly not all), but the child molesters are a whole different story. They just seem to be wired differently.

[jdj]

5. please, elaborate.

what is it...do you find that they are less honest in therapy? are they just completely full of shit, to themselves and then to you as well, and can't get honest or get help because they can't get honest with themselves?

I once heard it said (I can't remember where) that in prison the most normal, man on the street people are the rapists...is that true?

[punpirate]

10. That jives with the existing research literature....

Pedophiles are the incorrigibles. They can be absolutely convincing of their reformation in clinical settings, and immediately revert to previous behavior once they are out.

Other sex offenders have variable rates of recidivism.

[chieftain]

4. No , I really do not think they can be rehabilitated in the best

of circumstances and certainly not in the prison system as it now exists . I am afraid that these lost souls need to be locked up for the rest of their lives if they have been convicted of an assault. I am a staunch civil libertarian but in these cases , I think it's one strike and you are out .

[REP]

6. Does Death Count as Rehab?

Otherwise, no. Rapists have the highest recidivism rate of all criminals. Castrating them doesn't work; they'll just use something else to violate their victims with.

Life sentences would bring the rates down, simply because they wouldn't be out on the streets to reoffend. Most rapists don't think they're committing a crime; they think their victims deserved it, was asking for it, needed to be taken down a notch, whatever. The threat of prosecution doesn't stop them now; longer sentences wouldn'tchange their deranged thinking.

[jdj]

11. why, then do you think we are on the fence as a culture about this?

does it have something to do with the fact that we have only in the last 20 or so years really begun to address the issue through the victim's perspective...as they say, there really is no taboo in society about sexual abuse, incest, etc, the only taboo is in TALKING ABOUT IT.

this murder is just the most ridiculous assinine thing ever. so senseless. no neighborhoods want these sex offenders any way, and it is just going to get worse.

pit bulls kill a number of children every year, I was watching animal cops Miami tonight and learned that it is illegal to keep pit bulls in all of Dade county. So in essence you can outlaw a heretofore innocent dog in the name of protecting children and others, yet you can't ban previously convicted sex offenders. I am just beyond disgusted with this. We need to shit or get off the pot where these guys are concerned, I think.

[REP]

17. Let's Not Succumb to the "Think of the Children!!1!" Hysteria

First, adults are every bit as worthy of being protected against sexual predators as children are. Let's not hide behind "the chiiiiiiildruuuuuuuun!" when talking about something we'd ALL like dealt with.

Second, the way the law works is that you can't be convicted for a crime you might commit. Longer prison sentences are a great idea for sexual offenders; short sentences, plea bargains and parole suck, but once released, it's a little scary to think about rounding them up because there's a kid around, plus it's stupid. Lock them up for the crime they commited, not the one they might commit next.

[jdj]

24. that's the point, and it's not hysteria.

why not make a decision about whether we feel this behavior is curable, and then act on it?

My post header is innaccurate, I was talking about pedophiles, sorry for the ambiguity. The fact is that when you have a crime that has this high of a rate of recidivism, plus when you factor in it's devastating impact on society (something like 60% of prisoners have a history of sexual abuse) plus the fact that the behaviors tend to follow a spectrum going from bad to worse as time goes on, then something needs to be done. I think the leap from focusing concerned attention to "hysteria" is a little knee-jerky.

And I do feel somewhat insulted by your post. I don't see how you equate being outraged at a child's senseless death "hysteria". That's somewhat twisted.

[ultraist]

28. You raise some excellent points!

There are red flags and people need to be more educated so they can refer their family members, students, patients, etc, for screening.

If the person shows a propensity for molesting children, interventive measures can be taken. For instance, this person can learn some behavior mod to deal with their illness before they rape a child. Or, simply never be alone with a child.

When we had child molestors at Child Protective Services, one of the basics was to ensure they were never alone with a child. We were aware of the low recovery rate of pedophiles.

This could also be done with other potential criminals, such as serial murderers who often show symptoms of a personality disorder early in life.

The problem is, most people don't support funding for preventative programs.

[jdj]

29. are you saying it's political as far as funding?

is it partisan? what do preventative programs consist of?

I called DSS on a relative of mine, that has served time and was being allowed around children. I didn't know the people personally, but once when they called asking for him I *69'd the phone and called DSS with the phone number. There were other people around who did know these people and REFUSED to do anything or tell the people. And DSS was so horrible, the woman was so rude to me, told me that "everyone is out sick today and we are short on help" was a total bitch, told me to call back another day. I think I called about three times before I got them to take my complaint.

I don't think they ever acted on it though.

I don't know if I could do a job like child protective services, honestly.

[ultraist]

55. Yes, it's political

Democrats have traditionally supported social programs and of course Repukes haven't. It's all tied up in their world view of "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and "personal responsibility." Both of which of course ignore macro factors and actual research. The Repukes refuse to accept the reality that an investment on the frontend, saves a lot on the backend. They prefer to let the prison population rate go up, rather than prevent it from being high.

I'm not surprised you encountered someone incompetent and unprofessional at DSS. It also varies in quality from county to count. I worked there for a short time, right out of college. It IS a horrible job. The caseloads are such that you are not able to give any family the time they need and deserve and the pay sucks, especially considering most counties require a Masters degree for CPS work. Additionally, it's very stressful and high burn out work. I saw the saddest and most horrible situations. Babies with broken bones and underfed, girls who had been raped for years by relatives, beaten children, etc. I'm not in the SW field anymore. But, there are some good Social Workers.

As far as preventative programs, there are a number of schools of thought but most include the educational component & a therapeutic component. Some people are referred to more intensive therapy and/or meds.

Sex or drug education programs for instance, are types of preventative programs.

[REP]

30. I Was Talking About ALL Sexual Offenders

I get offended when I hear that ALL women aren't worth protecting unless they're children. Sorry you feel otherwise. I think it's in everyone's best interest to have realistic sentences for all sexual offenders, as most offenders rape both girls and women. Pedophiles are actually rare.

[jdj]

31. if pedophiles are rare then they sure do get around.

and as an adult woman I will put a child before myself so I cannot get behind that one. Because as horrible as rape is for an adult woman it will not split an already intergrated adult psyche into a million irreparable splinters like it will that of a child, male or female.

Thanks for articulating your perspective, I understand better now, but I don't have the same valuation because I think the rapists are the formerly raped, and that preventing predation on children is THE number one way to protect adult women, because this is how the repetition compulsion gets set up in the first place...victimization that one can't articulate but that must be acted out over and over, and from which one only gets temporary relief so the behavior must be repeated, and the degree of violence deepens each time, out of desperation to "make it work" and get permanent relief this time.

[REP]

32. Spend Some Time With Some Adult Rape Victims

You may change your mind.

I say this as an adult woman who was raped as a child. We *all* deserve protection. I value us all equally. I hope that someday, you will too.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jdj]

40. well, then..

you were really hateful to a fellow child victim of rape as well as various other sundry negative experiences, and I reacted with anger. So sue me.

If I didn't care about adult victims I wouldn't keep harping on about this stuff in discussions on DU where the furthest we get is "castrate them". To this day I am the only person here who I have ever seen use the words "repetition compulsion" here EVER. I DO NOT believe in the concept of evil. I believe pedophilia has a cause rooted in childhood, and I believe that if we HAVE TO STOP THE CYCLE at some point, or we will never stop rape of adult women, ever. The relative I mentioned did not, for all I know, rape children. But he did have a very well documented history of sexual abuse in early childhood even though he was taken away from his parents and adopted at the age of five. He showed very clear signs of abuse, even after being given all the couseling and attention money could buy. And yet Karen paid with her life for someone else's crime. It's a cycle, and I want to root out the cause and if the only way to do that is give a mandatory sentence of life with no parole, for a first offense, then so be it.

[REP]

41. No, I Wasn't; You Saw What You Wanted To See

Please don't blame me for reading into my posts things that are not there. Try to remember I don't know you, your family or your friends. I only read what you write, and respond to that. I'm not a mind reader.

You are so busy looking for ways to be offended that you are overlooking that we essentially agree: life sentences for first offences, no matter the age of the victim.

Pedophiles, or those who rape only prepubescent children, are rare. Indiscriminate rapists - that is, rapists who will rape the young, the old and anyone in between - are far more common. Pedophilic crimes are more shocking, as few believe that child victims did anything to deserve being attacked, which is not the case with older (teenage on up) victims.

[ultraist]

58. Child sexual abuse is not "rare" 20% of females in US, victims of child sa

http://www.nycagainstrape.org/survivors_factsheet_14.html

*Sixty-seven percent of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies were juveniles (under the age of 18); 34% of all victims were under age 12.

*One of every seven victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies were under age 6.

*Forty percent of the offenders who victimized children under age 6 were juveniles (under the age of 18)

*Twenty-nine percent of female rape victims in America were younger than eleven when they were raped (National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992).

According to the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse's annual survey, state child protective agencies received 218,820 reports of child sexual abuse in 1996 (Wang & Daro, 1997). (Calculated by multiplying the estimated number of reported child victims (3,126,000) by the percentage of sexual abuse cases (7%).)

In the United States, at least 20% of women and 5% to 10% of men were sexually abused as children (Finkelhor, 1994).

[Athame]

22. Why is the culture on the fence?

Because, by far, most of the offenders are in the home. On one of these threads someone said, "a little girl should be safe in her own bed." And I would say, yes, she should (and so should little boys), but more than 90% of the children who are molested or raped or abused are victimized by those they love and trust, over and over and over again. When something like this makes the news, everybody wants to put the bastards away for good. It makes us feel like we are doing something about the problem...stranger danger...only a small percentage of pedophiles. But we don't want to look too close into the lives of children and families and church and scouting clubs and sports teams. Most pedophiles are very, very good at camouflage. People who would never do such a thing to a child cannot think like the pedophile. That's why they can fool judges, parole boards, neighborhoods, congregations and spouses. One part of me thinks that the children killed are the lucky ones.

On this subject, I know whereof I speak.

[jdj]

26. that is such a good point.

I didn't even factor that in.

Ouch. you are so right. in the cases of family abuse, the children have no right to protection whatsoever.

[Athame]

33. I don't mean to belittle your very good question

nor take away from the many excellent points made on this thread. It is always a difficult subject for me to write clearly about. Most of the research of the past twenty years or so indicates that about one in four girls and slightly fewer boys are molested before they turn 18. Even if only a small portion of those are subject to regular ongoing serious assault, the number is HUGE, and the effects are devastating.

Many years ago, when actually no one was talking about it, I was a co-founder of an organization called SAVE, Sexual Abuse Victims Education. We had a speakers bureau and went into the law enforcement training teams and the State Hospital sexual predators wards and college human sexuality classes and PTA meetings. In every group where I spoke, the numbers would bear out these statistics. Two or three out of fifty would come forward afterward to tell me their stories. But the community could never hear the real truth about the abuse in the homes, they always wanted to make coloring books warning preschoolers not to talk to strangers. It became very frustrating.

Later, I worked with a group called Parents United, now called Families United, I believe. These were incestuous families that were under court order to go to counseling. I was a confronter. The offenders had to convince me that they understood the damage and the pain the abuse caused and accepted responsibility for it before they could be allowed back into their homes. The truth is that most of them could never see the harm they did. They would say the same things I had heard as a child. "She likes it. She comes on to me. Or, "I love my daughter (tears in eyes, spilling onto cheeks) and would never do anything to hurt her." For the very young children, the offenders thought that they would never remember. Often the abuse would stop when the child was old enough to tell. There were many cases of toddlers abused, who were only discovered because of vaginal infections or bleeding. Or sometimes an older child would continue as the sexual partner in order to save the younger siblings from the same fate.

We have to get beyond this occasional outrage when a child turns up dead and look deeply into the culture that breeds this behavior. That is the basis for my sig line.

[jdj]

36. that is the thrust of my argument.

I seem to be the one of the only ones bringing up stuff like this here or saying things beyond "cut his dick off" when the "occasional outrage happens.

I don't feel belittled (though I may have missed that part) but I was interested in getting more info from people who have actually worked in rehabbing offenders. Your post confirms my suspicion, I have only had one friend (most of my friends are counselors of some sort) who has worked with child predators on a regular basis, and she didn't hold out much hope for them...she and her husband work with them as a business, and the feedback I have gotten from her is pretty much what you say, that they are so steeped in rationalization that it's impossible to get through.

I actually have had some of the things in your post said to me very recently about my own abuse, that I somehow "asked for it" (as an 8 year old) or that I was a willing participant, and that why don't I just get over it. This was by my father about abuse by his brother.
I think the whole family is steeped in a tradition and behavior pattern of "not seeing", that is is a code programmed into the family as a whole that is impossible to break. It's tragic.

[Athame]

43. yes, we want to castrate those horrible monsters out there, but

when the abuser is in the family, it becomes much easier to rationalize that the damage is slight and, especially once the child is grown, he or she should just "get over it." It's in the past, but the past never seems to go away and the trust never grows back.

I have actually heard many people say that if someone ever hurt their child they'd skin 'em alive. I have even heard offenders say that! It is a pretty good way to deflect attention and make sure that when they are accused they will have witnesses who would never believe it of them. But more often it is like your father, who would never admit to themselves that they have sacrificed their child to protect the uncle.

I am sorry you had to experience that. Perhaps our conversation tonight can do some good by opening a few more eyes.

[Pirate Smile]

7. There was a show on with an expert who said when he was studying

repeat child molesters, one of them said that he would do anything, take anything to just get out of jail so he could get near some little kids again.

[Quixote1818]

8. They need to do more research on what part of the brain this comes

from. Perhaps once they home in on where it originates from they could then do research on how to change the chemicals in that part of the brain or perhaps do shock therapy their.

The other alternative is if perhaps they volunteer to have their Penis chopped off. Voluntary basis only.

[jdj]

12. why the delay? how many more kids have to die?

I'm all for the research and the therapy (behind bars) but what about in the meantime...how many more jessicas and pollys will have to be sacrificed?

[susanna]

13. I don't think chopping it off helps.

They can still kill. The sexual is but one aspect...granted, I think it is the primary motivation, but then secondarily, they kill so they don't get caught. They kill to avoid the knowledge of their crimes becoming public, because they KNOW what they do is abhorrent to the world at large. Just my observations.

So I don't know that there is a cure for this...

[jdj]

14. the only cures I have heard about are some kinds of

aversion therapies.

As a recovering alcoholic who has seen many people almost kill themselves after drinking on top of antabuse, I'm not so sure that aversion therapies even work.

[LisaL]

16. I disagree. I believe castration would work.

Probably the only thing that could work. Obviously, not in every case. But in many of these cases.

[jdj]

18. I don't see this a sexual behavior.

I see it as a repetition compulsion where in sexuality got linked with violation for these men ( and more women than people want to acknowlege) at some point in early childhood, possibly before the formation of memory, and the only way the men have to free themselves of the horror fear and shame is to act out the scenario over and over again but by playing the role of the aggressor. Otherwise they are stalled in the paradigm of the raped and brutalized child, a literal hell on earth, with only two options in their mind of how to be.

But I'm not sure that many if any can access the place where they have memories of violation, especially with our homophobic culture that hates gay men and puts men who've been violated in a somehow feminine category or something (bad articulation, I know, but it's a hard concept to talk about). So men who talk about having been raped lose their manhood somehow and are looked at much less than. It's like men suffer any sexual violation from another man twice, one is temporary, the other is a permanent stigma of being somehow less than a man. It's weird.

[REP]

21. Castration Doesn't Work

The rapist will use another instrument to violate his victim. In fact, many rapists are impotent and 'punish' their victims for it by shoving bottles, bats, gun, etc into them.

[LisaL]

42. Now, is that your opinion, or do you have any support for it?

Like, any studies that would suggest men who were castrated still re offended? And do you have anything to support your statement that many rapists are impotent? Sorry, that does not ring true to me at all.

[purji]

50. heres a link

http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/disp_9207_a.html
Took about 10 seconds to come up with one on google.

[LisaL]

51. Your link is to one person's opinion as to why castration won't work.

He gave one example of it not working. Well, of course, it's not going to work every time. Yet, there are studies done to say otherwise-that the rate of re-offending is dramatically reduced by chemical castration.
http://www.csun.edu/~psy453/crimes_y.htm


"Proponents of chemical castration tout its success at reducing recidivism. Some European studies have shown these rates to fall to as low as 3 percent, while other approaches — imprisonment, counseling, even shock therapy — still yield recidivism rates of 17 percent and more.

Many of the larger studies that proponents cite are based in Europe and involve preferential pedophiles, or people who prefer sexual relations with children. Situational pedophiles are people who have had adult sexual relationships, but will have sex with children because of drugs or alcohol, or because needs are not otherwise being met, according The Associated Press."
http://miva.sctimes.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?Web/page.mv+1+opinion+677578+3+

[susanna]

27. self-deleted...

because it would have caused a thread hijacking due to its focus. Sorry everyone.

[ermoore]

15. You gotta get their boys . . .

Seriously, I don't understand why they get out at all. What they do is terrible enough to justify locking them up for long, long time (forever basically). Or just make vigilantism ok for this one exception. I might be ok with this too.

[Kipepeo]

19. I think it is possible to rehab rapists

but not pedophiles.

[zalinda]

20. I know a guy who "offended" a little girl

We talked about it, he was young at the time, and curious about female bodies. He said that when he feels overwhelmed he thinks back to that encounter, and he is tempted to do it again. He hasn't done anything again and it may be because he was caught. It was swept under the rug, so to speak, but it did impact him a great deal. He was a lonely kid, and he lost his best and only friend over the situation.

Are they wired differently? I don't know. Maybe it's a combination of experiences added to the feeling of helplessness, that cause it to become so difficult to overcome. But, I would definitely put it in the same category as rape, which is not really sex, but being powerful over a person who is weaker than you.

zalinda

[jdj]

23. It's interesting that you say when he feels "overwhelmed".

I don't really know what that means, but it's obvious that this behavior was a release for him.

Why would something so repulsive to most people be a "release" for someone. That is bizarre. How would violating another prove to be a release?

I wonder if it is because children are so morhpic when it comes to emotions, they really absorb them like a sponge, and I wonder if pedophiles are cued into this subconsciously, that you can really transfer negative emotions onto kids.

I honestly think it's self-hatred. in murdering or violating that child they are expression their own revulsion at and inability to cope with their victimization. The child is a symbol, and because they can't get in touch with the child they were, not even real.

But all that is beside the point as to whether even knowing all this it is a curable or arrestable behavior.

[shraby]

25. Could it be related to the

obsessive-compulsion problem others suffer from? Just a thought.

[undergroundpanther]

37. Rape is about power

Pedophilia is about power domination.
Kill the pedophlies and convicted rapists. Every one of them.

I wish I could invent a device one could wear internally and control it precisely.. A device that would destroy a rapists biological weapon when they put it in,by shredding it to a pulp and this device would tattoo thier skin in thier groin and ID them in the ER...

Than rape would lose it's "appeal" for these consiousless sociopaths getting off on a power trip.

[ultraist]

64. Lack of impulse control and antisocial behavior according to the DSM IV

It's not really related to OCD as far as I know.

MOST child sexual abuse victims do not go on to sexually abuse children but most who are abusers, were abused themselves, so there is a cycle.

[SoCalDem]

38. Their first "prosecutable offense" is NOT their first offense

They CRAVE children for sexual gratification.. That CANNOT be "un-learned"..

They see EVERY child as a sexual object, and eventually they ALL act on their impulses.. Some never get "caught" because they do not kill the victim, or the victim is a family member who is either not believed, or who "keeps the secret"..

They CANNOT be cured.. When they claim to be cured, they are only telling you that "they have not been caught again"..

[applegrove]

39. Chemical castration!!! An alarm system built inside the freak that

goes off and calls satellite attention to the freak if he gets within 10 feet of a micro chipped child. I'm talking sirens.... Big loud sirens that go off.

[flygal]

46. I thought the same thing

I was watching a show where they tracked cell phones by GPS and I thought - why couldn't they implant something like that in a sex offender.

I have to admit - I didn't check the local s.o. list when I lived in the states. Now that I have kids I will - but how could you know they aren't roaming around at night. If they are evil enough to try it once - the only way they should be released is with a tracking or something that gets rid of their addiction.

[applegrove]

47. I agree - but I imagine for some it is not even sexual..just about hurt

and power. I caught Larry King for a few moments. One person was talking about trackable implants and he said that they would have to be the size of a cell phone.. so put them in the dam child molesters.

I for one think that science can go a long way to nailing the freaks of this world and protecting the innocent much better. The problem is like with pills.. unless they see a market to mass produce the item the corporations may not study it. So likely the corporations would prefer that all kids had the cell phone thing embedded in them. And then everytime the thing was updated everyone would have to send their kids for another operation... It was Mark Klass who said that it should be the perps who have to have it.

[Occulus]

54. read my post below

There really are innocent people convicted of these offenses who have had their lives utterly destroyed as a result. The only way your system would be acceptable to me is if you could guarantee that no innocent person would ever be sunject to it.

MY address is on the sex offender's registry, and I didn't commit ANY such crime. It's because I live with someone who was. Does it affect me? Hell yes!! Were a child to disappear in my complex, I would get hauled in for questioning right along with him, to tell police "what I know" about "my roommate's whereabouts" at the time of the disappearance.

Not that that has happened yet, thank God. But it does make me wonder just how much of this is honest concern, and how much of it is just flat hysteria.

[WillowTree]

44. Maybe yes. Maybe no.

It doesn't matter though.

I'm willing to accept that there are some people in this world who have sick proclivities that they did not ask for. I don't think that a person ought to be punished for that.

But with very few exceptions, they know that it's wrong to act on those urges and they do it anyway. As one who was once a victim of a sex crime, that, in my opinion, is what it punishable and the historic recitivism rate is such that I don't think it's fair to society to take a chance by letting them walk free amongst the public ever again because if the rehabilitation doesn't "take", there won't be any way to tell until it happens again.

[OneBlueSky]

45. in many cases it probably is, but no one ever seems to try . . .

instead, we just consign these people to absolutely impossible lives by requiring them to register as offenders, thus reducing their living and employment options by about 99% . . . there are probably some who can't be rehabilitated, but that would be a small minority . . .

generally we, as a society, just don't feel they're worth the effort (although murderers and embezzlers seem to be) . . . seems pretty fucked up to me . . .

[Occulus]

53. My hubby had something really, really twisted happen to him

His stepson got him charged with a sex offense for... wait for it... putting the back of his hand on his stepson's groin while he (the stepdad) was asleep. The "victim" of this sexual "assault" testified on the stand that his stepdad was asleep when it happened.

He pled out because the prosecutor and his own lawyer convinced him he would be spending 25-30 in Jackson State Pen., where sex offenders have a lifespan of about a month. For this, he was given three years probation.

Then the sex offender registry went into effect, his case was grandfathered in (nothing like ex post facto punishment, huh?), and he now has to register for the next 20 years or so.

I'm only repeating the facts of the case. He didn't do anything AT ALL to this kid, who was known by many for wanting to take him down in the first place. My hubyy's productive life is effectively over- he knows society sees him as a worthless piece of shit now.

According to many- those who don't bother to learn the facts of cases- he can't be rehab'd, ever. Not that he ever did anything in the first place...

We've been together for five years. In all that time, I've never once seen any indication that he has any attraction to children in any way- rather the reverse. Children repel him now, and for good reason.

He even stays as far away from his own daughter as he can. It's sad.

[OneBlueSky]

63. it really is sad . . . one has to wonder just how many of these cases . .

of supposed sexual abuse are nothing of the sort . . . and the "perpetrators" become the victims, with devastating consequences . . . check out this story for another example of pedo-paranoia gone wild . . .

The CCTV recorded me taking two photographs - one of a group of children
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/03/19/ftmac18.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/03/19/ixartright.html

[ComerPerro]

49. I would like to believe it is possible

but, I don't know at all.

[LoZoccolo]

52. I read somewhere that it is, somewhat.

More with situational offenders than with actual pedophiles, of course. I was actually really surprised how simple it was; it had to do a lot with self-esteem if I remember correctly. Of course you'll get few people arguing for this because people then think they don't take sex offenses seriously, but this is what I had read.

[DARE to HOPE]

57. I think, as others have said, that one's ability to process the feelings

...is KEY.

Our experience with this issue was in our parish. The wife was devastated when the daughter came forward. I told her, to find the truth of things, she should approach her husband's previous family and ask the grown daughters about their own experience.

The whole thing blew up as the truth emerged, leading to divorce and geographical relocations. We ended up with the perpetrator, which made me CRAZY as the church's resident "feminist."

However, my husband was able, over time, to get this man to the level of feeling his own childhood pain, of remembering what had happened to him. This enabled him to approach his victims/daughters and seek forgiveness, or at least, express remorse. He has remarried, a woman much more "in charge" of their lives, with eyes wide open, and is now at the age where perhaps sexuality is waning.

I think of Paul Bonacci and others who have emerged from the MK-ULTRA program--are we saying that there is no hope for any of these? I do think that integrating one's consciousness, and learning about the pain you are giving others, as men are experiencing in some of the therapy involving wife beating, is the only "cure."

[lies and propaganda]

59. nope... sorry

How many years did the guy who killed Dru Sjodin in one of the Dakotas serve prior to killing her?
Now this little girl in Florida, and her killed had been arrested some 20+ times. I wish i had an idea as to what to do with them, but its definitely not an easy one.

[H2O Man]

60. In general, no.

However, because the definition of "sexual offender" includes a wide group of people, it's worth looking closer.

If an 18 year old is arrested for having sexual relations with a 16 year old, he will be considered a sexual offender. Certainly, it is possible to work with the 18 year old, and to discuss the societal standards, respect for others, etc. And the chances are that the 18 year old and 16 year old will both be okay.

On the other hand, a 38 year old who has been arrested for having sex with a 6 year old is a different type of offender. In my opinion, there is no therapy that will change this person.

A decade ago, there was a case that involved a fellow in my rural neighborhood. One of my coworkers was a therapist who specialized in treating sexual offenders. She worker with the guy for six months, and then said he had graduated from treatment. She felt he posed little threat to the community. We exchanged some heated words, because I knew he was as much a threat as the day he had been arrested for his most recent offense.

My coworker made clear that I did not understand the advances in treatment. She acted like I was being very unreasonable in doubting her ability to treat offenders, and in her judgement of risk factors.

Within 48 hours of graduating from treatment, the neighbor was arrested for four sex offenses; one of the four offenses was a violent act against a teen-aged girl.

I will admit I'm not entirely objective in the case of an offender in my neighborhood. But I am just as opposed to having them released in anyone's neighborhood. I can honestly say that in the many years I was employed in social work, I do not think there was ever a succesful treatment other than incarceration.

Should I ever find the old neighborhood offender on my property again, however, I would consider a treatment that would insure that there was zero risk of his ever offending again.

[ultraist]

65. That is scary! There are no reliable predictors for recovery, IMO

I have checked the state registry and luckily there are no sex offenders in our immediate area, any that have been caught that is. I think I'd move in a child sexual offender moved onto our street! (We have children).

5 out of 6 child sexual abuse incidents occur in a residence.

[Ilsa]

61. I think some sort of objective testing needs to be developed,

because I think many of them are wired differently and that explains why the recidivism is so high. I have little confidence in rehabilitation of child molesters and child rapists. And I fear most are only a step away from murder.

[animuscitizen]

62. My subjective & objective opinions as a therapist

I have worked in the behavioral health field for 11 years. I am not an expert in the treatment of sex offenders, but have some experience working with a few cases. Most of my specialized training has focused upon recovery from trauma, chemical dependency, and personality disorders. That being said, here is my two cents:

Pedophiles have an obsessive/compulsive and sociopathic desire to groom, manipulate, and use children sexually. There is a drive for power and control that is similar to other sociopathic personalities, such as the man who beats his wife, the rapist, or the drug kingpin that routinely orders murder to protect his empire.

Sociopaths, in general, show little hope for rehabilitation. Of course, this depends on the severity of the characterlogical malfunction. Often we can treat mental health issues that are a sidebar for the sociopath--such as substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Treating the antisocial personality disorder is difficult at best. It is like trying to install guilt for wrongdoing, in a person who generally feels no remorse. People only change if they WANT to change. Unfortunately, most antisocial personalities don't express a sincere interest in exploring this type of change.

Sociopaths participate in programs, such as drug treatment and sex offender groups, usually because they are mandated through parole or probation. After the individual completes his court mandate, it is common to see him again and again, as he cycles through the treatment alternatives to incarceration's revolving door.

Pedophilia is first and foremost a violent crime. For those who have seen extreme PTSD in trauma survivors, you know that a sex offender causes damage that should be considered akin to murder. Many victims are literally robbed of their emotional/psychological functioning. I personally believe the related mental health/treatment issues need to be considered as secondary to sentencing guidelines. I am appalled that our justice system seems more interested in lengthy sentences for non violent drug offenders (ie: the Rockefeller laws). Sentencing clearly needs to change, if we want enhanced protection from sex offenders.

[ultraist]

66. Excellent description!

Child sexual abusers are generally characterized as "impulsive antisocial." They are "fixated" on children as sex objects but it is not an OCD condition, per se.

Oftentimes, the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder can be detected early in life (disruptive in school, etc). It's at this point, intervention should be done and the potential perp should be treated. Lack of prevention programs is a serious problem.

This source provides characteristics of child molestors:
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/163390.pdf