Factors Related to Recidivism Among Released Federal Sex Offenders

• NCJ Number: 173546
• Author(s): L L Motiuk; S L Brown
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 17 pages
• Corporate Author: Canada Correctional Service
• Sale Source: Canada Correctional Service
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This study identified factors related to recidivism among various types of sex offenders released from Federal Canadian institutions.

Abstract

In this continuing examination of sex-offender case histories in Federal corrections, a follow-up sample of 570 sex offenders was developed; 329 who were on "caseload" (already under community supervision and released prior to March 1991) and 241 who were "new releases" were subsequently monitored. The caseload sample was tracked from the time of the case-file review until July 1994 (52-month follow-up). The follow-up time for the newly released group was variable, ranging from 1 to 3.2 years. The average time served in Federal custody until release for "caseload" and "new releases" (3.2 and 3.6 years, respectively) did not significantly differ. During the post-release follow-up period (average 3.5 years), approximately one-third of the sex offenders were convicted of a new criminal offense, nearly one- fifth for a violent crime, and less than 1 in 10 for a new sexual offense. Findings show that among newly released sex offenders, rapists had the highest rates of general, violent, and sexual recidivism relative to any other group. Incest offenders had the lowest rates of general, violent, and sexual recidivism relative to pedophiles or rapists, regardless of whether they belonged to caseload or newly released samples. The pedophile group on caseload had the highest rate of sexual recidivism relative to incest offenders or rapists. A series of chi-square and stepwise regression analyses identified factors that can be used to predict sex offender recidivism. For general and violent recidivism, important predictors were age at release (younger), juvenile history (training school), unemployed (at time of arrest), unstable living arrangement, and substance abuse. For sexual recidivism, the most salient factors were age at release (younger), previous sex offenses (Federal sentence), and adult drug abuse. Although a large number of significant predictors could be found for general and violent recidivism, the low rate of sexual reoffending limited the researchers ability to generate many predictors of sexual recidivism. 5 tables and 12 references