Researching the registered: challenges and suggestions for researchers studying sex offender populations

As interest in registered sex offenders proves to be a popular topic among community members, the media, and legislators alike, researchers must continue to examine the experiences of this offender group. Sex offender registration and community notification laws are diverse across states, creating a difficult and confusing environment for registered sex offenders post-conviction. Often, registered sex offenders report experiences with social stigmatization and physical isolation from their communities as a result of their labeled status. This leads them to be distrustful of outsiders; researchers included. This paper examines the experiences of researchers who have conducted three quantitative and qualitative research projects focused on registered sex offenders and life on the registry. In addition to highlighting the challenges in conducting this type of research, this paper provides a discussion of four specific challenges that may occur when gathering data from community sex offender samples, and several recommendations to overcome these challenges.     

Effectiveness of a risk–need–responsivity‐based treatment program for violent and sexual offenders: Results of a retrospective,quasi‐experimental study

Purpose

Relapse prevention is an important goal in correctional settings. Although there is strong evidence for the effectiveness of certain treatment programs for juvenile offenders, those for adults lack such evidence. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a risk–need–responsivity (RNR)‐based intervention.

Methods

A quasi‐experimental, observational study design and cox regression analysis were used to compare treated violent and sexual offenders (n = 171) with untreated offenders (n = 241).

Results

Both groups were observed for an average of 7.9 years. Recidivism rates of treated offenders (11.7%, n = 20) were similar to those of control offenders (15.8%, n = 38; p = .25). When controlling for confounding variables, the hazard of recidivism in the treatment group was 5.2% lower than that in the control group. Subdividing the treatment group resulted in lower hazard ratios for offenders still in therapy when released and offenders cancelling therapy. However, none of the group differences was statistically significant.

Conclusion

Our results show that control and RNR‐based treatment groups had comparable recidivism rates with a trend towards a positive treatment effect, especially for people in outpatient treatment. However, criminal history, age at the start of follow‐up, and actuarial risk of recidivism were significantly associated with recidivism. Future research needs to apply elaborate methodological approaches to detect robust treatment effects and consider different criteria of treatment effectiveness. Furthermore, the influence of prison climate, motivational factors, intervention quality, and factors supporting the success of outpatient treatment should be considered in future studies of larger offender samples.     

SILENT CHANGES: TRANSSEXUALS’ RIGHT TO MARRY IN CHINA’S MAINLAND AND HONG KONG

In comparison to the arduous process of rights advocacy in Hong Kong, transsexuals in China’s mainland achieved their right to marry via some “silent changes”: there was no legal activism from transsexual communities, no debates or hearings in the legislature, and no landmark judgments made by the judiciary. From a perspective of comparative law, this article attempts to analyze the legal changes regarding transsexuals’ right to marry in China’s mainland in light of the struggles in Hong Kong. It endeavors to discuss to what extent the seemingly “smooth” and “unintended” way of opening up marriage to transsexuals in China’s mainland could be beneficial to trans rights and equality in general.     

论人工生殖子女父母身份之认定

传统民法中父母子女关系的建立,血缘与怀胎是母亲同时具备的要素,法律上兼以二者作为认定母子关系的指标。随着医学科技的发达,人工生殖技术使得血缘与怀胎间的相连性不再理所当然,不孕夫妻可以借用他人的精卵通过体内或体外受精,使妻孕育分娩子女,甚至可以将不孕夫妻的受精卵植入他人的子宫怀胎分娩,使得人类的繁衍可以在血缘之外的母体进行。生殖科技对现行法律制度提出了诸多挑战,人工生殖子女之父母身份的认定问题尤为突出。为避免因采用特殊规则形成人工生殖子女为特殊子女的不当认识,立法上应力求采用与自然生殖同样的父母认定标准确定人工授精子女的亲子关系,即依据出生事实确定谁是母亲,根据婚生推定及否认制度确定谁是父亲,丈夫的术前同意限制其对子女的婚生否认权的行使;立足于有限性开放代理孕母的观点,确定代孕子女的父母身份时,法律应突破传统的分娩者为母亲的观念,通过特殊立法规定遗传父母为代孕子女之法律父母。     

不婚同居的法理学分析

不婚同居作为一种新的生活方式 ,已不可否认的冲击着我们的婚姻家庭生活 ,也挑战着现行的法律。本文就不婚同居及其相关的法律问题进行法律社会学的探讨和分析 ,认为不婚同居将可能成为一种人类两性关系的新形式 ,与婚姻形式并行不悖。因此 ,相关的法律制度的变革和两性关系新的法律制度建立和完善将成为婚姻家庭部门法的主要内容之一。     

论就业中的反性别歧视

目前 ,我国就业领域中存在着较为严重的性别歧视问题。既有历史文化和女性自身的原因 ,又由于法律政策的不健全所致。女性面对市场竞争要增强自信 ,提高自身素质 ;同时要给予女性的损失以社会化补偿 ;还要健全法律法规和建立完善的社会保障体系。     

对强制猥亵妇女罪的思考

对刑法中的“强制猥亵妇女罪”概念及特征的认识学界可谓各持一端 ,尚无一个十分确定的看法。借鉴国际性学会在《香港性权宣言》中提出的新型性权利概念 ,来认识我国强制猥亵妇女罪的客体特征 ,并以此为切入点 ,科学界定其犯罪对象、客观方面、主观方面等特征 ,从而提出完善立法的建议。     

DOES DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL MEAN DROPPING INTO DELINQUENCY?*

Approximately one third of U.S. high‐school freshmen do not earn their high‐school diploma on time. For African‐American and Hispanic students, this figure nearly reaches one half. The long‐term economic consequences of dropping out of school for both the student and the larger community have been well documented. It has also been argued that school dropouts put themselves at a higher risk for delinquent and criminal behavior when they leave school. Although it seems plausible that dropping out might increase the potential for delinquent conduct, another view states that dropping out is simply the final event in a long, gradual process of disenchantment and disengagement from school. Dropouts show evidence of school failure and developmental problems years in advance. It has been argued, therefore, that the actual event of finally leaving school has no causal effect on criminal or delinquent behavior because it has been so long in coming. In this article, we examine the effect of leaving school early, and the reason for dropping out, on delinquent behavior with the use of panel data models from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (NLSY97). Through an appeal to identity theory, we hypothesize that the effect of dropping out is not uniform but varies by the reason for leaving school, gender, and time. This conjecture receives only partial empirical support. Implications for future work in the area are discussed.     

CO‐OFFENDING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DELINQUENT CAREER*

This article examines the role of co‐offending in the development of the delinquent career. Hypotheses derived from Reiss's (1986, 1988) taxonomic theory of co‐offending are tested, using police‐reported data on the delinquent careers and co‐offending of 55,336 Canadian offenders. Support is found for a taxonomic theory and for age‐related and functional theories of co‐offending. The taxonomy consists of two types of offenders—high activity (3 percent) and low activity (97 percent)—whose co‐offending patterns differ during the teenage years but not during childhood. For low‐activity offenders as teenagers, the proportion of co‐offenses decreases with criminal experience. The rate of co‐offending by high‐activity offenders as teenagers is lower at onset than for low‐activity offenders, and it varies little with criminal experience. For both offender types, the proportion of co‐offenses decreases with age, is slightly less in males, and varies with the type of offense. For both offender types, the proportion of co‐offenses in childhood offending is greater than in the teenage years and is unrelated to the offender's age or criminal experience.     

RACIAL ANIMOSITY AND INTERRACIAL CRIME*

The primary objective of this study is to determine the effect of a victim's race on the likelihood of him or her being seriously injured during the commission of an interracial crime. We also assess the probability of a homicide occurring during an interracial crime. A multilevel city analysis shows that black offenders are no more apt than white offenders to injure their victims seriously during an interracial robbery or rape. A black offender also does not have a greater proclivity to kill his or her victim during the commission of an interracial crime. Some evidence suggests that white victims are more likely than black victims to suffer serious physical harm during an aggravated assault. Results also reveal that contextual factors related to racial animosity, such as residential segregation, white‐to‐black economic inequality, and black‐to‐white unemployment, fail to have any moderating effect on either the severity of victim injury or the likelihood of a homicide occurring during an interracial crime. Overall, the results generated in this study tend to cast doubt on the validity of racial animosity theory. Our findings also lead us to question the veracity of the oftenmade claim that black‐on‐white crimes are punished more severely because these types of offenses are somehow more heinous in circumstance. At least in regard to serious victim injury and victim death, black‐on‐white crime is no more violent than white‐on‐black crime.