Community support for sex offender rehabilitation in Europe

Abstract

It is assumed that the public holds negative attitudes towards sex offenders, yet an increasing number of European volunteers are involved in sex offender rehabilitation programmes through Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA). Public attitudes and their correlates have been mainly studied in Anglo-Saxon countries; research in European countries other than the UK is scarce. To fill this gap, a web-based survey was held among web-panels in nine European countries (n = 200 per country). Measures included awareness and knowledge about sex offenders, community attitudes towards sex offenders in the community (CATSO), attitudes towards the treatment of sex offenders (ATTSO), public attitudes towards sex offender rehabilitation (PATSOR), support for CoSA, and attitudes towards volunteers working with sex offenders. Results indicated that clear misperceptions were held by a minority. Attitudes tended to be negative, but not extremely, and differences between countries were significant. The amount of support for CoSA was considerable and mean attitudes towards volunteers working with sex offenders were positive. The lower educated held more negative attitudes. Since webpanels were probably not representative on key demographic markers, the results are only indicative. Professionals should especially address the lower educated, correct key misperceptions about recidivism of sex offenders, and provide information about processes of change in convicted sex offenders.

Volunteering With Sex Offenders: The Attitudes of Volunteers Toward Sex Offenders, Their Treatment, and Rehabilitation

“…They also have a tendency to grossly overestimate recidivism rates (Brown, Deakin, & Spencer, 2008; Levenson et al, 2007; Olver & Barlow, 2010), and to view sentences as not being sufficiently severe (Olver & Barlow, 2010). However, although remaining skeptical of the efficacy of treatment and of treating sex offenders within the community (Höing, Petrina, Hare Duke, Völlm, & Vogelvang, 2016), the general public have also been shown to subscribe to the treatment and risk management of sex offenders as an alternative to imprisonment alone (e.g., Olver & Barlow, 2010). Overall, general public attitudes are likely to present barriers for sex offender rehabilitation and reintegration (Willis et al, 2010).…”

Learning from research: Adapting interventions for sexual offending to improve outcomes

“…These include finding work, developing meaningful life goals, and finding supportive social networks. Failure to achieve these is associated with increased risk of general and sexual recidivism (M. A. Höing, Petrina, Duke, Völlm, & Vogelvang, ). One approach that focuses on this transition period is Circles of Support and Accountability (Circles).…”

“…They are also more likely to hold positive attitudes towards sex offenders, their treatment, and rehabilitation. They are, however, also more likely to view sex offenders as dangerous (Höing et al, ; Kerr, Tully, & Völlm, ).…”

Professionals’ Understandings of and Attitudes to the Prevention of Sexual Abuse: An International Exploratory Study

“…The prevention of sexual abuse, especially secondary prevention, is a relatively new research, political and societal discourse and, therefore, compared with other parts of the sexual abuse arena we do not have a strong evidence base to determine public opinion. The limited evidence base tends to focus on public attitudes to primary ( Kemshall & Moulden, 2016 ) and tertiary prevention ( Centre for Sex Offender management, 2010 ; Höing et al., 2016 ), with a growing body of work linked to secondary ( Tabachnick et al, 2016 ) as well as quaternary prevention ( Richards & McCartan, 2017 ). Professional opinions of public attitudes towards sexual abuse prevention seem to be based upon their implicit, common sense theories and experiences rather than evidence based explicit theories.…”