NCJ Number
177693
Date Published
1998
Length
131 pages
Annotation
This book examines the scope of sexual abuse, defines the sex offender, presents a systemic view of the sex offender in relation to the family and the community, and considers the impact of sexual assault on victims.
Abstract
Written by a sex offender counselor in a State prison system, the book examines whether all sex offenses are equally bad, how someone becomes a sex offender, how the law views sex offenders, and what happens to convicted sex offenders. The book also considers whether sex offenders are dangerous to families and communities, how individuals know if sex offenders are in their area, what communities are doing with dangerous offenders, what citizens can do to influence legislation, research on reoffending, and whether sex offenders should be kept in jail or released into society. The scope of sexual abuse is discussed in terms of the number of sex offenders in the population, marriage and divorce rates, teenage pregnancy, and the percentage of children in single parent families. Legal and clinical perspectives are offered in the course of defining the sex offender, and a systemic view of sex offenders is presented that focuses on the individual sex offender, the family system, the community, and macrosystems. Strategies for preventing sexual assault and for victim survival and recovery are described. Appendixes provide additional information on sex offender notification, treatment, and recidivism. 10 references