This article covers what it means to be on a sex offender list and assesses whether or not they help reduce reoffending…
In the year ending December 2021, the UK reported a staggering 183,587 sexual offences, a 22% increase from the figures reported for 2020.
Despite increased awareness campaigns and measures, such as the sex offenders register, figures continue to climb. In this article, we’ll examine what this means and shine a spotlight on the question, ‘do sex offender registers actually reduce reoffending rates?’.
What are Sexual Offences?
When we think of the term ‘sex offence’ or ‘sex crime’, we often tend to associate this with rape but, in reality, these terms cover a multitude of sins, including:
- Rape – The sexual abuse of an adult, male or female
- Child abuse – The sexual abuse of a minor
- Stalking – Spying on or following a person
- Spiking – The act of drugging somebody for sexual means
- Domestic abuse – The sexual abuse of a spouse
- Online harassment – The sending of sexual content including imagery
In recent years, UK legislation has begun to change the parameters in which an action can be upgraded to a sex offence and, penalties for such offences range from fines and community service to prison sentences and inclusion on the sex offender register.
What is the Sex Offenders Register?
In 1997, the UK government introduced the Sex Offenders Register in order to keep tabs on those who have been convicted or cautioned for sex offences against children or adults.
This register is a database containing the details of such offenders and is run by the police service. While access to the sex offenders register is not generally available to the public, concerned parents and members of the community can request information from the police regarding offenders in their area.
Initiatives such as ‘The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme’ (also known as Sarah’s Law) has been set up to enable parents, guardians and care givers to make a formal request to police about an individual who has made contact with their child or vulnerable adult who they believe, may pose a risk to that person.
Sarah’s Law was named after eight-year-old Sarah Payne who was sexually abused and murdered in 2000. Her parents believe she was the victim of sexual predator. convicted kidnapper and child abuser, Roy Whiting. Roy Whiting was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for Sarah’s murder.
In 2021, it was estimated that there were 95,844 people on the Sex Offenders Register for England and Wales. How long an offender remains on the register depends on their crime and their sentence and, this is generally calculated as follows:
- Prison sentence 30 months to life Indefinite
- Prison sentence 6 months to 30 months 10 years
- Prison sentence of less than 6 months 7 years
- Police caution 2 years
In recent years, there have been a number of well-known people and public figures added to the sex offenders register in the UK, including a number of MPs and musicians.
One famous name on the list includes Pete Townshend, guitarist and vocalist for pop band, The Who. Townsend was placed on the sex offenders register for five years in 2003 following an admission that he had used his credit card to gain access to a website with the heading ‘Click here for child porn’.
How Effective is the Sex Offenders Register as a Deterrent?
The main aim of the sex offenders register is to inform offenders that due to their crimes, they are on the radar of police and could be checked up on or observed. This essentially aims to deter offenders from committing crimes through the threat of imprisonment or reimprisonment, but does it work?
Sex Offenders List as a First Time Offender Deterrent
Sex crimes are often complex and range widely in severity. As such, figuring out whether or not sex offender registers actually work is equally complicated.
Some figures show that reoffending figures for those who have been entered onto the register for a first time offence, range between 10% to 21% which can be considered relatively low. However it’s unclear as to whether this is down to being placed on the register or simply, a fear of going back to prison.
While there is little evidence to suggest that the sex offender’s registry deters reoffending. It is largely thought that it does deter people from committing first offences. This is almost certainly down to a fear of loss of income and reputation should they be placed on the register.
Ineffective Against Reoffending
When it comes to reoffending, the general consensus is that being placed on the sex offenders list has little to no impact. This conclusion is reached through a study which showed that reoffending rates have remained steady at between 26.0% and 31.8%.
There are a number of reasons as to why the sex offender register may not be as effective as hoped and some of these are:
- Mental illness – Some sexual offenders suffer from a mental illness which, if left untreated, means that the urge to reoffend may be beyond their control.
- Access to material – Even while on the sex offenders register, advanced technology such as VPNs mean that offenders have a number of tools at their disposal to help them to evade scrutiny.
- Despair – In some cases, a custodial sentence and / or an addition to the sex offenders register will result in the offender losing his or her job, income and even family. When this happens, he or she may feel that they have nothing left to lose by repeating their behaviour.
Alternatives to a Sex Offender List
Those who oppose using the sex offenders register as a deterrent believe that other methods are almost certainly more effective. One of these alternative methods is that of in-prison treatment programs targeted at rehabilitating and re-educating offenders to minimise the risk of reoffending on release from prison.
SOTPs (Sex Offender Treatment Programs) are core programs conducted in prisons by prison officers and psychologists and aim to educate offenders about their behaviour and teach them to alter their mindsets to reduce the risk of reoffending.
These programs are usually made up of 84 treatment sessions of around two and half hours and will generally take place four or five times a week. The programs are broken down into blocks as follows:
- Block 1 – Establishing relationships and cohesion for groups of inmates
- Block 2 – Identifying and challenging pro-offending thinking
- Block 3 – Introduction of coping strategies
- Block 4 – Promoting action plans for coping strategies
- Block 5 – Individual verbalising of past behaviour and the triggers behind it
- Block 6 – Examining the correlation between fantasy and offending
- Block 7 – Examining personality patterns and behaviour
- Block 8 – Beginning the process of change
- Block 9 – Enhancing motivation to change
- Blocks 10-13 – Removing the belief that the offence was harmless to the victim
- Block 14 – Establishing risk factors for reoffending
- Block 15 – Setting goals
- Block 16 – Improving coping behaviours
- Block 17 – The skill of goal laddering
- Block 18 – Preparing for possible lapses
- Block 19 – Coping behaviours for risk factors
- Block 20 – Enhancing motivation for behaviour changes
Many experts feel that rehabilitation programs like these are much more effective at reducing the risk of an individual reoffending.
Is a lack of transparency making sex offender lists redundant?
The topic of sex offenders, particularly those who target children and young people, is always an emotive one. There are calls by parents and concerned community members to be given more transparency over sex offender registers.
Making such information public would present the danger of vigilante activity within communities, something which would place the police service under immense pressure. While this kind of action should never be condoned, many feel that a lack of transparency makes these registers close to redundant as a deterrent for offenders.
