This book explores the issues surrounding sex offenders, evaluating the measures in use or being considered, including drug treatment, MAPPA, the use of the Sex Offender Register, restorative justice techniques, and treatment programmes.
Sex offenders, and in particular paedophiles, have been the subject of much political and media attention, producing intensive debates about the best way of dealing with them. This book explores these issues, evaluating the measures in use or being considered, including drug treatment, MAPPA, the use of the Sex Offender Register, restorative justice techniques, and treatment programmes. It is concerned with high-risk sex offenders both when they are sentenced to a community order, and also when they are released back into the community after a custodial sentence.
The introductory section opens with a discussion on how terms such as paedophilia are constructed and viewed, and then looks at how government policy regarding sex offending has developed over recent years. Section two looks at issues concerned with risk management, questioning whether enough is being done to monitor the risk that high-risk offenders pose when released into society; whilst section three, on risk reduction covers the main methods of treatment, including sex offender treatment programmes, pharmacotherapy (chemical castration) and restorative and reintegration techniques.
Section Four focuses on specific offender groups; including female sexual offenders, sexual harm by youth, mentally disordered sexual offenders and intellectual disabled offenders. These assess in what ways these offenders are different to the 'norm' and look at how we should be dealing and treating these differences.
The final section looks at social and moral responsibilities, including the patterns, prevention and protection of cyber-sex offences and media constructions of and reactions to paedophilia. In the final chapter the concept of dignity is addressed and the balance between community protection and the rights of sex offenders involved is evaluated.
'Karen Harrison, the editor, closes the preface with this comment: "whether he overall aim (to identify methods to prevent further sexual victimization) has been achieved is for the reader to assess". According to this humble reader, this aim is fully achieved if, and only if, professionals consider the conclusions reached by the authors. This is an extraordinary book that truly opens the eyes. All professionals wanting to really understand paedophilia should consider this book compulsory reading. It not only includes difficult theoretical questions but also raises practical challenges which must be taken into consideration when researching and in practice.' - Olga Sanchez De Ribera, PhD Student, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge in the Howard Journal Vol 49 No 5. December 2010
