A Reasoned Approach: Reshaping Sex Offender Policy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

"If no hopeful, rehabilitative solutions are available and made publicly known, people who witness signs of risk for victimization and/or perpetration may be less motivated to take the steps necessary to prevent child sexual abuse, intervene in situations of risk, and come forward when a child is sexually abused."

From the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), this policy paper explores the communication-related effects of legislation that has been passed in the United States (US) directed at the people who sexually abuse children, making recommendations based on evidence from community-based initiatives focused on both prevention and sex offender management.

According to the report, research from the last decade has highlighted some of the unintended negative impacts of laws that (i) increase the length of sex offender incarceration and (ii) monitor, track, and restrict individuals convicted of sexual offenses upon their return to communities. These impacts include:

• "Since those who abuse are often portrayed publicly as 'monsters,' people may be less likely to recognize the warning signs of sexual behavior problems in siblings, parents, children, cousins, or others to whom they are close because they do not see them as 'monsters.'
• Someone who suspects abuse within the family may be less likely to seek resources and assistance, fearing that it will result in the public exposure and humiliation of everyone involved, including the victim.
• When a convicted abuser returns to a community, current sex offender management policy may cause the offender to face housing, employment, and financial instability, as well as social isolation and despair - all risk factors for re-offense. The resulting instability may also reduce the ability of law enforcement and probation and parole systems to supervise the offender and ensure that s/he has access to the specialized treatment and services necessary for full accountability."

Fortunately, ATSA states, emerging research about people who sexually abuse has begun to inform new policies. "Many of these community-based and organizational policies and programs have been evaluated as effective approaches that offer holistic and hopeful responses to child sexual abuse for families and communities. Key to the success of these policies and programs is their recognition of the diversity of those who sexually abuse and the implementation of different tools and responses that address the needs of different individuals (e.g., responses to children and adolescents differ from responses to adults). Also central to these successful approaches are the use of emerging research about risk and protective factors in the development of primary prevention programs and the employment of actuarial risk assessment instruments in making treatment and management decisions for adult offenders. The involvement of community members and of people directly affected by child sexual abuse in ensuring that policies and programs address the unique cultural, ethnic, spiritual, and other perspectives of each community is also key to success."

Based on these experiences, the report offers the following 3 recommendations for breaking down the barriers that have kept the topic of child sexual abuse out of the public domain:

1. Design and implement evidence-informed policy.
2. Develop community policies that: "expand the notion of what constitutes abuser accountability; encourage community responsibility and healing; and provide safety, restitution, healing, and avenues for input for victims....[T]he people affected by child sexual abuse must have a hand in designing the policies that will affect them..."
3. Integrate what is known about perpetration into prevention programmes, victim services, and public education.

The report's conclusion reinforces the importance of fostering participation as a strategy in addressing this problem: "The most successful solutions recognize the importance of involving victims, families, and communities in holding those who abuse accountable for the harm caused."