| 10/09/2004 Sexual offending
behavior is relatively stable over time
In a study that will be published shortly in the journal Criminal
Justice and Behavior Gabrielle Sjöstedt and colleagues at the
Centre for Violence Prevention show that certain aspects of sexual
offending behaviour are repeated among offenders convicted of new
sexual offences.
The study comprises 75 individuals convicted of a sexual offence
and released from Swedish prisons 1993-1997, and later convicted
for new sexual offences during an average follow-up period of 6
years. This reoffending group was included in further analyses comparing
sexual offending behaviors between prior and recidivistic offences.
The analysis indicated that prior sexual offending behaviors tended
to be repeated in new offences, this was particularly the case for
the offender’s victim choice (age, sex, relation). It was
also noted that the relatively limited reoffending group committed
a large number of offences (389 offences) directed towards a large
number of different victims (279 victims).
The results underline the need to identify individuals with higher
risk of reoffending in order to focus resources to the offender
subgroups where risk management and monitoring is of particular
concern. Further knowledge regarding the development of sexual offending
behaviors over time could provide valuable information for identification
and prevention of situations with an elevated risk of reoffending.
|
