NCJ Number
156450
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
These articles summarize findings from the Washington State research project initiated in 1990 and focusing on how to protect the community from sex offenses.
Abstract
The Community Protection Research Project focused on sentencing options and costs, recidivism among sex offenders, sex offender treatment, registration and community notification, civil commitment, the prevalence of sexual abuse, and victim services. The Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA) can include up to 6 months of confinement and 3 years of treatment with a private provider for offenders who have no prior convictions, are not convicted of a violent rape, and are amenable to treatment. A similar sentencing option exists for juvenile sex offenders. Between July 1992 and June 1993, 33 percent of the convicted adult sex offenders were granted SSOSA; another 43 percent were eligible but not granted SSOSA. SSOSA is much less expensive than either prison only or prison with treatment. Seventy-six percent of sex offenders convicted between 1985 and 1991 were not rearrested for any felonies; 87 percent were not rearrested for sex offenses. The first national study on the prevalence of child sexual abuse revealed that 27 percent of the women and 16 percent of the men had experienced some form of victimization; a Washington State study revealed that 30 percent of the women were sexually abused as children. Figures