Effective punishment of sex offenders
Sex offenders, rapists and paedophiles are usually sentenced to prison. Does it change them? Or do they commit offences again? You can find the answers in the article.
Loss of freedom has been the only way of punishment for centuries. (jlp)
Punishment has its purpose
Sex offenders subject to the penal code are mostly sentenced to prison. More horrible the crime is, severer the sentence, or in other words, longer. The punishment is loss of freedom. Of course, any punishment has its effect no matter how inappropriate it is. In case of sex offenders, Robert Prentky, the research director at the Justice Resource Institute, says that only few people return to crime. About 15 per cent of men commit an offence again after release from prison. However, the figure does not depend on the length of a prison sentence. It depends on a psychological constitution of an individual, their past, social influences and other factors that formed the individual’s personality. For a long time, there has been a discussion whether these people are ill or malicious. The state solves this by avoiding the problem and strictly obeying the law. The state is not interested in the motive of a criminal offence but whether it was committed. They are guilty of disrespecting the law and they are therefore sentenced to prison.
The infamous Alcatraz Island. Sometimes prison was not only the place where you lost freedom but also the place of survival. (jlp)
Certain methods are effective
The magazine “Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment (Vol. 14, No. 2)” published the report on and the description of a method which is proved to reduce the number repeat offenders. In two observed samples, the number fell from 17.3% to 9.9%. The change is not considerable, which is the result of an already low number of repeat offenders. Nevertheless, every decrease is important because it means that help is provided for individuals who took the wrong way in order to reintegrate in the society without committing a criminal offence again. The evaluation of the risk of repeat offences plays an important role. Prisoners can use certain mechanisms to influence the length of their prison sentences by behaving properly, and thus return to the society. This evaluation is, however, very difficult to achieve in an objective way. Prisoners' honesty about their emotions and stress can have an influence on the psychologist’s evaluation for their release. On the other hand, it is honesty that causes a change in individuals and their minds. Such honesty will trigger psychological development in an individual and serve as the reason for seeing a physician to evaluate whether the person poses a great danger.
Those who doubt the seriousness of sex offences should watch the film Irreversible. And at the end of the film, you have to ask yourselves whether punishment can ever be equal to the crime committed and if it is cathartic? (jlp)
Help must be provided immediately
Although some people think that sex offenders are worthless people who must be removed, experts claim that they need help immediately. Sometimes such help can only be provided at the request of an offender. However, help should be provided as soon as possible, even if an offender does not request it. Life in prison is not easy, and if a person wants to survive, you have to face a lot of pressure. Offenders cope with the pressure by changing their prison sentences into injustice. They suppress their guilt and show anger and apathy, a lost and perverted feeling for doing the right or wrong things. If people are attacked by anger and aggression, they often respond by anger and aggression. And prison is an ideal place for apathy and hatred. John Q. LaFond (professor of law at the University in Missouri) recommends on the basis of research to start rehabilitation immediately when an offender steps through the door. This is the only way to increase chances that offenders change into “normal” citizens and do not commit the same criminal offences. This has a beneficial effect on potential victims and the criminal system of the state as well as offenders.
If we choose a good way, why insist as a society on the methods of the Middle Ages? We have not come far as a society if decisions are still based on revenge.
