The Forensic Clinic Of The Toronto Psychiatric Hospital

Turner, Russell; Hutchison, Harry C.; Williams, Lcia Cavalcanti de Albuquerque

doi:10.3138/cjcor.1.1.15

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…As well, evolution in the understanding of and responses to sexual offending may have led to different challenges for the criminal justice system and the decline in the sexual recidivism rate could reflect changes in both kinds of offenders and kinds of offenses. In the 1950s and 1960s, consenting adults involved in homosexual acts made up a significant proportion of those admitted to treatment programs (e.g., Turner et al., 1958). A closer look at offenders sampled across periods, their offending history and individual characteristics, could help shed some lights on this issue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Greenland (1984) argued that the average time spent incarcerated by an individual convicted of a nonviolent sexual offense (e.g., homosexual acts between consenting adults) and designated as a dangerous sexual offender was longer than for those who perpetrated serious violent crimes (e.g., homicide). 2 Following public outrage over a series of homicides involving children, a citizen's initiative in the 1950s eventually led to the development of one of the first Canadian clinics specializing in the assessment and treatment of sexual deviance (Pascoe, 1961;Turner et al, 1958). 3 The Canadian government provided the courts with a number of legal dispositions to prevent SOR (e.g., dangerous offender legislation; long-term offender disposition; peace bonds).…”

Section: E N D N O T E Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 For example, despite the CSPL being predicated on the use of specialized treatment, it took almost 20 years before such programs were gradually introduced in Canadian prisons. In the meantime, “sex offender treatment” consisted mainly of unstructured group psychotherapy sessions in psychiatric units and outpatient clinics and there was little to no evidence to support this approach (e.g., Marcus & Conway, 1969; Turner et al., 1958). Legislation to deal with dangerous offenders would eventually be described as instituting confinement disguised as therapy (see Price, 1970).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…22Following public outrage over a series of homicides involving children, a citizen's initiative in the 1950s eventually led to the development of one of the first Canadian clinics specializing in the assessment and treatment of sexual deviance (Pascoe, 1961; Turner et al., 1958). …”

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confidence: 99%

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The sexual recidivism drop in Canada: A meta‐analysis of sex offender recidivism rates over an 80‐year period

Lussier

McCuish

Proulx

et al. 2022

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research summary In the past, the Canadian government followed in the footsteps of its American counterpart by enacting “sex offender laws.” Since the 1990s, however, the Canadian criminal justice system has taken a different approach to the issue of sex offender recidivism (SOR), focusing on treatment, rehabilitation, and community risk management. This evidence‐based approach has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent convicted offenders from sexually reoffending. This criticism has not been addressed empirically, leaving open the question of whether this Canadian policy shift is associated with changes in the rate of sexual recidivism. The present study uses a meta‐analytic framework to look at 185 Canadian‐based studies involving over 50,000 offenders, making it possible to combine 226 sexual recidivism rates. After controlling for factors such as follow‐up length and the independence of samples, weighted pooled recidivism rates have declined since the 1970s by more than 60%. This trend may have gone unnoticed because it is not related to the year of publication but to the period in which the data were collected. Policy implications The findings have significant implications for criminal justice practices including the importance of using risk assessment tools that are regularly calibrated to reflect the evolution of sexual recidivism rates over time. Although the current study cannot provide firm conclusions about the factors responsible for this gradual drop, several hypotheses are discussed. Knowledge‐based criminal justice practices, better training for professionals, and improvements in treatment programs may have had a subtle and cumulative impact on sexual recidivism rates. The importance of examining period effects on SOR using a comparative and international perspective is discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: E N D N O T E Smentioning

confidence: 99%