The Pros And Cons Of Sex Offending

Sex offending has climbed up the chats to become one of the most disturbing problems in the USA. It has attracted much attention in recent years among the stake holders of the law enforcement and psychological fields. The aspect of sexual victimization can have a negative impact on its victims and families; there is also fear that is inflicted by these crimes to the members of the public, and risks special needs and risks posed by sex offenders. These are the reasons why the authorities are putting in more concerted efforts to discover different special ways to manage this group of people that is ballooning at an alarming rate. Authorities are doing this as means to prevent future sexual victimization and offences.
Sexual victimization and sexual offending cuts across a wide area of disciplines, So the response to this menace has to also cut across a reasonable range of disciplines and agencies in a given area. Facts say that good management of sex offenders is not just looking over them and treating them. It needs all aspects including investigation, adjudication, sentencing, and many others. It also needs full commitment and collaboration of the stakeholders.
Apart from individuals, this issue must involve organizations, and entities who are concerned with the issue which is male, female, adult and juvenile sex offender management.
Background
Estimations say that approximately 265,000 citizens in this country are sex offenders and are under surveillance by the authorities. It is quite a big population and that means the effects, risks to the community vary in a very wide range. With the growing populations, the number of these sex offenders also grows every day. Over 150,000 adult sex offenders have been convicted over the years. This means they represent approximately 30% of the American prison population. There has also been a rapid increase in the prisons in the recent years which is about 80%. (Furby,et al1989).
Targets of treatment
We all know that sex offending is a big problem in the American society. Therefore such a problem cannot be generally tackled. Tackling societal problem of this caliber in a general way is considered by experts as the layman way of doing it which is not effective at all. That means the key points should be targeted during treatment as shown below:
Lifeline
In this case, the offenders are required to write about their life up to the date of the offence.
It is clearly understood when I call it a brief autobiography of the offender. It covers all the stages of the offender’s life up to the day of the offence. This includes: childhood, adolescence, and many other stages that he/she may have gone through during his/her development. Most importantly, the autobiography should have the sexual history and the positive and negative experiences of the client. This is meant to better educate the therapist about his/her client in terms of identifying the factors that may have resulted in the client engaging in such an unlawful behavior. It also unearths the characters of the offender that are alarming and need to be changed with immediate effect. (Ward & Stewart
2003).
Self esteem
Self esteem vital in this process because research has shown that low self esteem increases the likely hood of the offender to strike an unsuspecting target
Taking responsibility
This is a process that is meant to make the offenders accept the responsibility of their wrong doings. It begins early in the treatment process and runs throughout the entire process.
Coping skills and styles
A person who is frustrated with life by making several failed attempts normally has a very fragile mood that could change anytime.
Intimacy and attachments
As shown in the self esteem approach, there is a theory that suggests that these offenders attempt to satisfy their intimacy needs using these acts because they lack the taste of intimacy in their lives.
Fantasies and preferences
There is really no doubt that all sex offenders experience some sexual fantasies that are related to their bad acts.
Offence pathways
This is where the therapist helps the client to identify the events that led to the sex offence. Here, the offender needs to discover his/her chronic problems e.g. low self esteem, drug and alcohol abuse, and unnecessary anger.
Self management goals
This is where the therapists and the clients/offenders work together to produce a draft of goals in order to achieve good life for the offender.