Sex Offender Civil Commitment
Civil Rights or Societal Rights

Civil commitment is a legal process typically introduced into society for the mentally ill, or those individuals whom the Court or other professionals believe are a danger to themselves or others. Society realizes that, at times, an individual may pose a danger to themselves or to society and be unable to make rational decisions. In fact, in most jurisdictions in the modern world, involuntary commitment procedures are specifically applied to individuals who have manifested some form of serious mental illness that acts to impair their reasoning to such extent that they are unable to make cogent and logical decisions. herefore, at these times the state (the Court system) must intercede to find ways to make the appropriate decisions under a legal template. Involuntary commitment may have, in the past, been used in certain situations, inappropriately, but the statutory criteria that indicates one is…...

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The idea of civil commitment is not just a legal or political issue, but a moral and ethical philosophical debate within society. This is a scholarly volume, intended for a scholarly audience that asks several pertinent questions about the role that the political process plays within decisions that are uncomfortable for society -- among which defining sexual predation is one.

Troyer, J. (2003). The Classical Utilitarians - Bentham and Mill. New York: Hackett Publications.

Also a scholarly publication, this book describes the evolution of utilitarian thought from Ancient times to the 19th century. It is a standard text that helps one understand the differences between utilitarianism and deontology, and also analyzes why the good of society can be a cultural issue that can change over time.

The website explained that the law's necessities turned on a person's finding of guilt alone a fact that a person had already had a procedurally protected occasion to challenge. Even if the person could show that he was not liable to be presently harmful, Connecticut had determined that the registry knowledge of all sex offenders had to be openly revealed. The offender had relied only on procedural due process, not on the substantive part of the Fourteenth Amendment's safeguards.
In a 9-0 decision the judgment was reversed. In an opinion by ehnquist, Ch. J., joined by O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., it was held that: (1) The Connecticut law did not infringe procedural due process, under the Fourteenth Amendment, by failing to permit affected people, prior to their registry information being revealed to the public, an investigation to establish whether the offenders were probable to be…...

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References

Conn. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (U.S. 2003). Retrieved October 28, 2010, from Find Law Web site:

 http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=U.S.&vol=000&invol=01-1231 

Gramlich, John. (2010). Online sex offender info rapidly expands. Retrieved October 28, 2010,

from Stateline Web site:  http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=367676

habitual sex offender has become a major issue in American society today. Media reports on the number of children killed in recent years fuel this concern, including reports where a sex offender who has been released from prison at the end of his sentence takes and kills another victim. Various states have passed new laws and added restrictions on sex offenders as a result, and one of the issues now concerns notification, meaning whether the neighbors of a released sex offender should be told that the offender is living among them. Traditionally, parole or release from prison has been a matter kept between the offender and the state, and the people in the community are not told where released sex offenders are living. Because of the notoriety accompanying some recent cases, the public now demands to be told when a sex offender is living in the community. hile these…...

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Works Cited

Beatty, David. "Community Notification?

It's the Right Thing to Do." Corrections Today 59(6)(October 1997), 20.

Biema, David. "Burn Thy Neighbor." Time (July 27, 1993), 58.

Decter, Midge. "Megan's Law and the New York Times." Commentary (October 1994), 61-62.

Mental health workers offered mixed support for the treatment program. A rape crises advocate and support counselor suggested that diverting offenders out of the criminal justice system denied the victims the closure that they needed to move on with their lives. However, two psychiatrists indicated that they believe that treatment programs can be effective, and that treatment is the appropriate course for mentally ill offenders, rather than incarceration. In addition, because they work with mental commitments, they indicated that both of them have already participated in civil commitments for pedophilic child molesters who offended within the family group, and indicated their belief that the civil commitment process actually made it easier for the victim to begin the work to repair his or her life.

Finally, it is important to consider the criminals. More than in almost any other area, the idea of possibly indefinite civil commitment for those who sexually offend…...

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Give the District Attorney the discretion to prosecute the pedophile for any acts of sexual assault, as well as any other crimes committed to further the sexual assault or hide the sexual assault. Any pedophile engaging in torture, aggravated assault, or murder would be subject to criminal prosecution for those crimes.

While conventional wisdom suggests that treatment for sexual offenses against children is ineffective, that simply is not the case. Pedophiles have a horrible disease. While that disease does not give them the right to victimize others, it like other mental illness, becomes more difficult to control when a person is experiencing "fear, lack of trust, low self-esteem, feelings of rejection, inadequate social skills, lack of empathy, isolation from others, and poor communications skills." (Freeman-Longo, 2001). Prison increases these feelings, making it unlikely that treatment in a prison setting would provide the same type of success as hospital-based treatment programs.

Furthermore, one-third of sexual offenses against children are committed by teenagers. (Chaffin, Bonner, & Pierce, 2003). Because many child molesters are, themselves, children, it stands to reason that there are many teenage child molesters who are pedophiles, though most adolescent sexual offenders do not meet the criteria for pedophilia. However, across the board, adolescent sex offenders are more responsive to treatment

Offender Reentry Program Proposal
The concept of offender "reentry" is beginning to take the corrections world by storm -- a much overdue storm. Reentry is the process of prisoners reentering society after a period of incarceration in a prison, jail, or detention facility. But it doesn't signify just "letting them go." It connotes that offenders are "prepared" to be released. It means that they are much better off at the time of release than at the time of their admission. (Anderson, S)

It suggests that their period of community supervision will contribute to their crime-free lifestyle. An estimated 100,000 youth are released from secure and residential facilities every year and because the length of incarceration for juveniles is shorter than for adults, a relatively greater percentage of juveniles return to the community each year. In addition, research indicates that a small percentage of juvenile offenders commit the overwhelming majority of juvenile crime.

The…...

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Wilkinson, R. (1998). The impact of community service work on adult state prisoners using a restorative justice framework. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati.

Wilkinson, R. (2000). Sex offender risk reduction center. In R. Wilkinson (Ed.), Correctional best practices. Directors' perspectives. Middleton, CT: The Association of State Correctional Administrators.

Wilson, D., Gallagher, C., & MacKenzie, D. (2000). A meta-analysis of corrections-based education vocation, and work programs for adult offenders. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 37, 347-368.

Despite these constraints, GPS-enabled tracking systems stand to promote public safety. In this regard, Schwabe and his associates report, "etter technology for offender tracking has the potential to increase public safety by making information on offenders easier to share and utilize" (2001, p. 23). These types of surveillance systems, though, introduce new privacy concerns, even for offenders, given the fundamental constitutional rights that are involved. As Schwabe et al. emphasize, "It should be noted, however, that such systems raise many of the same civil liberties issues discussed above vis-a-vis video surveillance. As a result, they represent another case where the use of a technology by law enforcement must be balanced against individual rights and the resulting (potentially conflicting) public perceptions of the activity" (Schwabe et al., 2001, p. 23). While the debate over civil liberties vs. public safety continues, the use of GPS-enabled tracking devices continues to increase in…...

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Bibliography

Cassel, D. (2008). Pretrial and preventive detention of suspected terrorists: Options and constraints under international law. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 98(3),

811-814.

Author is Professor of Law; Director, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Notre Dame Law School who provides a timely overview of detention approaches used for foreign nationals who have been convicted of terrorist activities. Author's observation concerning the effectiveness of GPS-enabled tracking devices was a valuable contribution to the goals of this paper.

Lindsey, J.M. (1999). Techniques in human geography. London: Routledge.

poweful abstact, endeed ceatively by being witten in the second peson. Using second peson engages the eade and encouages the eade to conside the deepe issues that ae about to be addessed in the eseach. The autho succinctly captues the issues elated to eintegating sex offendes into communities in safe and humane way, focusing on the case study in Miami-Dade County. Theefoe, the abstact is ideal and goes beyond the typical abstact that dyly summaizes key findings and methodologies. As with the est of the pape, the opening sections ae well witten and thee ae no gammatical o stylistic poblems.
The intoduction of the pape is bief and to the point, citing statistics that gound the agument in factual evidence. Fo example, the autho mentions the numbe of egisteed sex offendes living in the United States and uses statistics fom a cedible oganization. The autho also shows how the law…...

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references to psychological literature that detailed the brains of sex offenders or some evidence-based information on whether or not sex offenders can be rehabilitated and if so, how that is possible. Another thing that would improve this paper would be for the author to make suggestions for changes to the public policy and how to shift the approach in dealing with sex offenders. However, as the descriptive visual analysis of what is going on in Miami-Dade County, this is an excellent paper that has broader applications to the rest of the country.

special needs, mentally ill, and substance-abusing prisoners affect the jail and prison systems at state and federal levels?
The Federal ureau program functions inside the prison and is a drug abuse platform which has individual units in several prisons. It has programs, lengths of treatments, structure and staffing provided to work with addictions. The 500-hour program has to be attended by all the inmates and live in the treatment entity which is apart of the prison population. This particular program needs the inmates to accept accountability for their conduct and to settle on a conscious choice to abstain from taking part in drug abuse or criminal conduct (Washburn, 2012). Evidence has demonstrated that these sorts of projects are compelling in both decreasing recidivism and drug abuse. It assists them get positive fundamental skills as well as have physical health, and develop family relationships. It is additionally supplemented by different projects…...

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Bibliography

Seiter, R. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Smith, K. (2013). Special needs Prisoner: Specialized Prisons and Services. Prison J.

Washburn, K. (2012). Prisoners with Special Needs. CJA.

(Harris, 2002, p. 8)
Terrorist acts are both crimes and forms of warfare, and in both respects are unlike what we are used to." 2 Understanding the larger possibilities, such as warfare, law enforcement will be able to make informed decisions on matters concerning data collection. When gathering information it is important to document and standardize every step of the process. This will alleviate any complications when categorizing behaviors or activities and will ensure that all participants in the process are on the same playing field. (onczkowski, 2004, p. 72)

Following the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. which is an example of foreign terrorism, though domestic terrorism has been present in the U.S. For decades, many individuals accepted new standards of security that might infringe upon their rights as citizens to freely travel, assemble and speak, yet more recent protests have been leveled against law enforcement and security measures as time…...

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References

Califano, J.A. (1998, October). A New Prescription: Investing in Substance-Abuse Treatment Would Take a Big Bite out of Crime. Washington Monthly, 30, 9.

Evans, D.J., Fyfe, N.R., & Herbert, D.T. (Eds.). (1992). Crime, Policing, and Place: Essays in Environmental Criminology. New York: Routledge.

Glenn, R.W., Panitch, B.R., Barnes-Proby, D., Williams, E., Christian, J., Lewis, M.W., et al. (2003). Training the 21st Century Police Officer: Redefining Police Professionalism for the Los Angeles Police Department / . Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

Groth, a.N. (1979). Men Who Rape: The Psychology of the Offender. New York: Plenum Press.

These strategies should focus on parolees' risks and need and conducted in a way that would motivate change. Aware of these realities, States continue to innovate and evolve reentry strategies towards this end (Yahner et al.).
The RI was a particularly ambitious correctional program in that it targeted the most difficult offenders for rehabilitation and incorporation into the community. These are young offenders with violent criminal histories, who are likeliest to be excluded from reentry assistance. The RI develops and implements individual plans to reintegrate chosen offenders back into society. This was the Controlling Violent Offenders Program.

Efforts begin during their incarceration and continue when they are released into the community through a focused approach by a mentor. Case workers and mentors conduct varied programs to support their transition. These include social services in substance abuse and mental health disorders and vocational services for training, education and resume development for employment…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Braga, A.A. et al. (2008). Controlling violent offenders released to the community.

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston: Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved on March 19, 2013 from  http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/rappaport/workingpapers/braga_BRI_final.pdf 

James, N. (2011). Offender reentry: correctional statistics reintegration into the community and recidivism. CRS Report for Congress: Congressional Research

Service. Retrieved on March 19, 2013 from  http://www.nationalcia.org/wp-content/uploads/correctional-statistics-Reintegration-into-the-Community.pdf

Unfairness of Sex Offending Laws.
Current laws that govern sex offences are placed under scrutiny for their potential unfairness towards those convicted. Often, these laws are excessively harsh against those who do not pose a current danger to public safety.

There are few things as dire to the public mind as sex offences. Hence, current laws are as harsh as possible to protect what is perceived as the safety of the public and its most vulnerable members, children. For this reason, the Internet sex offender databases were created. At the basis of these is Megan's Law, which specifically requires a state to make neighbors aware when violent sex offenders move into their community (Sheeres, 2002). The law has been enacted in honor of Megan Kanka. She was a 7-year-old girl from New Jersey who was raped and murdered in 1994. The perpetrator was a twice-convicted child molester. He moved into a house…...

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REFERENCES

Dowd, J. (2008, Oct 27). Se offender law unfair to homeless, court says. The 13th Juror. Retrieved from:  http://jackiedowd.blogspot.com/2008/10/sex-offender-law-unfair-to-homeless.html 

Prior, R. (2010, Oct 10). Juror: Sex offender law unfair. The St. Augustine Record. Retrieved from:  http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-10-10/juror-sex-offender-law-unfair 

San Diego News (2010, Apr. 12). Registered Sex Offender Says Current Laws Unfair. Retrieved from:  http://www.10news.com/news/23131007/detail.html 

Sheeres, J. (2002, Jun. 10). Sex Offender: Branded for Life. Wired. Retrieved from:  http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2002/06/53075

But there is ample evidence, as documented in our recent report that unfettered access to registries can and does lead to extensive harassment and sometimes violence against former offenders (Fellner, 2007).
Highly publicized cases that deal with the abduction, rape, abuse, and murder of young children have led federal and state governments to introduce new laws that require stricter punishments, requirements, and prohibitions for sex offenders. Increasingly rigorous and over-inclusive necessities for sex offenders are almost unanimously accepted and easy for legislators and politicians to support because they are popular among the general public. As Congress passes law after law cracking down on sex offenders, experts and officials question whether the requirements of those acts even work to achieve the goals of legislators (Farley, 2008).

The most recent act, the Adam Walsh Act (AWA), raises many questions as Congress again expands punishments and requirements of sex offenders. The AWA contains over-inclusive…...

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References

Farley, Laura Geer. (2008). The Adam Walsh Act: The Scarlet Letter of the Twenty-First Century. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from Web site:

 http://washburnlaw.edu/wlj/47-2/articles/geerfarley-lara.pdf 

Fellner, Jamie. (2007). The wrong sex offender laws. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from Los Angels

Times Web site:  http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/18/news/oe-fellner18

When one looks at the occurrence of recidivism in offenders who have partaken in treatment programs varying from organic programs to those geared to more social and emotional support programs, it becomes clear that recidivism of sexual re-offense is relatively low, compared to those who undergo no treatment program. However, there is still an issue with non-sexual re-offense. In addition, there is evidence that the contributing factors for adult and juvenile offenders are different.
As such, it is suggested that not all offenders should receive the same treatment. Correctional literature indicates that high-risk offender require the greatest use of resource, while lower risk offenders require the lowest level of resources (Andrews & Bonta, 2003).

As such, blanket policies that deem all offenders as 'high risk' are neither effective nor efficient. In addition, it may take away resources from those who truly need it, such as juvenile offenders who require longterm treatment.

eferences

Abracen,…...

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References

Abracen, J., Looman, J., DiFazio, R., Kelly, T., & Stirpe, T. (Mar 2006). Patterns of attachment and alcohol abuse in sexual and violent non-sexual offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 12(1). Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Andrews, D. & Bonta, J. (2003). The psychology of criminal conduct. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing.

Bates, a., Saunders, R., & Wilson, C. (Spring 2007). Doing something about it: A follow-up study of sex offenders participating in Thames Valley Circles of Support and Accountability. British Journal of Community Justice, 5(1). Retrieved December 17, 2007, from SocINDEX database.

Calley, N. (Spring 2007). Integrating theory and research: The development of a research-based treatment program for juvenile male sex offenders. Counseling & Development, 85(2). Retrieved December 17, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Concealing to Confronting Sex Abuse
It is one thing to consider child sexual abuse from the perspective of the criminal offender. Sexual abuse almost certainly qualifies as an anti-social behavior that is transmitted from generation to generation. Although this issue was not discussed in any of the articles, there is simply far too much evidence that child sexual abusers are very likely to have, themselves, been abused as children to ignore the idea that this behavior is transmitted from generation to generation, abuser to victim. In fact, child sexual offenders seem to have a modified version of the subculture of violence, but the subculture is actually one of sexual violence towards children. In this isolated culture, the sexual victimization of children is normalized. That explains the prevalence of child pornography and groups like NAMBLA. In fact, the offender may minimize the damage that he experienced at the hands of his…...

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References

Condon, P. (2010, December 7). "Top Catholic educator concealed abuse knowledge."

Associated Press.

Phillips, N. (2010, July 14). "Whatever happened at Father Cooper's Cabin in 1971, the archdiocese isn't responsible." Riverfront Times.

Rodgers, A. (2010, August 2). "Episcopal leaders take steps to deal with abusive clergy."

AbstractAlthough the social justice issue of child sexual trafficking is widely regarded by the American public as a problem that is faced by other nations, particularly impoverished developing countries, the harsh reality is that child sex trafficking routinely occurs in the United States as well. While exact numbers about its prevalence in the United States are unavailable, it is known that sex trafficking, including men, women and children, occurs in all 50 states. The purpose of this study is to provide a review of the relevant literature concerning child sexual abuse and trafficking in the United States, including how young victims are typically groomed for sexual exploitation. In addition, a discussion of the specialized social work practice of child sex trafficking, including the multiple ethical issues that are involved, is following by a description of an evidence-based intervention with proven efficacy as an intervention for child sex trafficking victims. Finally,…...

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ReferencesEmpowerment method. (2022). St. Ambrose University. Retrieved from edu/master-of-social-work/empowerment-method.Evidence-based social work. (2022). Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved from  https://onlinesocialwork.vcu.edu/blog/evidence-based-social-work/ .Finne, J., Ekeland, T.-J., & Malmberg-Heimonen, I. (2022). Social workers use of knowledge in an evidence-based framework: a mixed methods study. European Journal of Social Work, 25(3), 443–456.Flynn, S. (2021). Social Constructionism and Social Care: Theoretically Informed Review of the Literature on Evidence Informed Practice within the Professionalization of Social Care Professionals Who Work with Children in Ireland. Child Care in Practice, 27(1), 87–104.Hughes, J. A., & Jonas, M. (2020). Weighing Ethical Considerations in Proposed Non-recent Child Sexual Abuse Investigations: A Response to Maslen and Paine’s Oxford CSA Framework. Criminal Justice Ethics, 39(2), 95–110.Human trafficking. (2022). Trafficking in America Task Force. Retrieved from  https://traffickinginamericataskforce.org/online-exploitation .Human Trafficking Laws & Regulations. (2022). U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from  https://www.dhs.gov/human-trafficking-laws-regulations .Kaylor, L. E., Winters, G. M., & Jeglic, E. L. (2022). Exploring Sexual Grooming in Female Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 31(5), 503–521.LeNoue, S. R., Salomonsen-Sautel, S., Min, S.-J., & Thurstone, C. (2017). Marijuana commercialization and adolescent substance treatment outcomes in Colorado. The American Journal on Addictions, 26(8), 802–806.Lwin, K., & Beltrano, N. (2022). Rethinking evidence-based and evidence-informed practice: a call for evidence-informed decision making in social work education and child welfare practice. Social Work Education, 41(2), 166–174.MacDonell, K., Dinaj-Koci, V., Koken, J., & Naar, S. (2022). Barriers and facilitators to scaling up Healthy Choices, a motivational interviewing intervention for youth living with HIV. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 1098.Mandisa, T. L. & Lanier, M. (2012). An Integrated Theoretical Framework to Describe Human Trafficking of Young Women and Girls for Involuntary Prostitution. ResearchGate. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300805278_An_ Integrated_Theoretical_Framework_to_Describe_Human_Trafficking_of_Young_Women_and_Girls_for_Involuntary_Prostitution.NASW Code of Ethics.  https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English/Social-Workers-Ethical-Responsibilities-to-the-Broader-Society .Reardon, C. (2016, March/April). Fighting Youth Sex Trafficking — The Social Worker\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Role. Social Work Today, 16(2), 10.Saric, I. (2022, September 12). Modern slavery has risen significantly in last five years, new report says. Axios. Retrieved from https://www.axios.com/2022/09/12/modern-slavery-increase-report.Sex Trafficking in the United States. (2019). Polaris Project. Retrieved from https://polaris project.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/us-citizen-sex-trafficking.pdf.https://www.sau.

While it may seem like recidivism has a clear definition, there have actually been a number of different definitions of recidivism over time.  Generally, recidivism means reoffending after being released from a punishment or treatment program.  However, measures of recidivism cannot really account for all recidivism because recidivism is measured in various ways such as convictions for additional crimes, self-reporting rates, etc., but none of these measures is going to accurately capture all instances of recidivism.  One highly-researched area of recidivism is sex offenders and sex-based offenses.  Most lay people believe that sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated....