The most recent recidivism study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, was released in 1994. According to that study, 9,691 male sex offenders, including 4,295 child molesters, were tracked for a period of 3 years after their release from prison. The study was, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, the "largest follow-up ever conducted" of released sex offenders.
"Within 3 years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime," the study states. "On average, the 9,691 sex offenders served 3 1/2 years of their 8-year sentence. Compared to non-sex offenders released from state prisons, released sex offenders were 4 times more likely to be rearrested for a sex crime."
Unfortunately, that data, based on the three-year length of time the inmates were tracked, is largely unreliable, something that should have been obvious to the project heads, considering CSOM, which is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Office of Justice Programs, the National Institute of Corrections, and the State Justice Institute, state the following on its Web site:
"The longer the follow-up period, the more likely reoffense will occur and a higher rate of recidivism will be observed. Many researchers believe that recidivism studies should ideally include a follow-up period of five years or more."
Apparently, the U.S. Department of Justice did not want to conduct an "ideal" study. Regardless, the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers states on its Web site that official recidivism statistics are "always lower than actual reoffense rates" because many of the crimes go unreported or undetected. The association's Web site further states, "Less than 10 percent of all sex crimes result in a criminal conviction."
Many studies on the treatment of sex offenders have been conducted; however, few seem to agree on how successful the treatment programs are in preventing a sex offender from re-offending. On average, the overall re-arrest rate for treated sex offenders falls within 13 to 17 percent. However, it should be noted that many of the studies were conducted on "control groups" and the average length of study was three years.
The risk of recidivism remains high, and the consistent increase in sex crimes show that the current methods and laws for dealing with sex offenders are doing little to prevent future crimes.
Today, rape remains a crime still punishable by death in some Third World countries. While such a law may not necessarily be appropriate, the United States is far more lenient than it needs to be.
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