Download or read book Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Persons written by Nathan James and published by Nova Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 109th Congress passed legislation that allows the federal government to civilly commit "sexually dangerous persons". Civil commitment, as it relates to sex offenders, is when a state retains custody of an individual, found by a judge or jury to be a "sexually dangerous person" by involuntarily committing the person to a secure mental health facility after the offender's prison sentence is done. In 1990, the state of Washington passed the first civil commitment law for sexually dangerous persons. Currently, 18 other states and the federal government have similar laws. Moreover, the Supreme Court, in Kansas v. Hendricks and Kansas v. Crane, ruled that current civil commitment laws are constitutional. The civil commitment of sex offenders centres on the belief that sex offenders are more likely than other offenders to re-offend. However, data on sex offender recidivism is varied. Data show that the recidivism risk for sex offenders may be lower than it is typically thought to be; in fact, some studies show that sex offenders recidivate at a lower rate than many other criminals. Other studies show that, given time, almost all sex offenders will commit a new sex crime. Most discussions about recidivism examine ways to decrease it; for example, by providing sex offenders with treatment. Research on the efficacy of sex offender treatment is promising, but it cannot prove that treatment reduces recidivism.
Download or read book Protecting Society from Sexually Dangerous Offenders written by John Q. La Fond and published by Amer Psychological Assn. This book was released on 2003-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Protecting Society From Sexually Dangerous Offenders, legal and mental health experts explore the ramifications of the controversial sexual predator commitment laws, registration and community notification laws, and chemical castration laws that have come into existence in the past dozen years. The increasing number of sex crimes, especially those committed by released sex offenders against young victims, has struck a public nerve. Understandably, citizens are angry, vengeful, and fearful, and they demand both retribution and harsh measures to prevent these kinds of crimes from recurring. These intense public demands for retaliation and protection have shaped recent law and public policy, resulting in involuntary commitment programs, notification laws, and chemical castration laws for sex offenders in many states. These new legal strategies raise serious constitutional questions regarding the rights of those who have served their punishment. Perhaps more important is the question of whether these programs are actually effective in preventing sexual recidivism. In this volume, contributing authors discuss the issues surrounding these new legal strategies and the alternatives to such programs. They examine the wisdom and constitutionality of post-incarceration commitment and the difficulty of determining who is most likely to offend again. Contributors propose alternatives to involuntary commitment, including community containment and programs for treating sexually abused children so as to reduce the chances of them growing up to continue the cycle of sexual abuse. They also propose ways in which these new legal approaches can be applied to increase their therapeutic potential. Psychologists and other mental health experts working with sexually dangerous offenders as well as lawyers, policy makers, and students in these fields will find this to be an indispensable sourcebook on this topic.
Download or read book Evaluating Sex Offenders written by Dennis M. Doren and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2002-04-10 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evaluating Sex Offenders is the first and only "how to" book describing the complete sex offender civil commitment evaluation. Aimed at helping practitioners, clinicians, counselors, and parole officers assess risk and evaluate offenders who have been convicted of a sex crime, the text offers readers a step-by-step description of what examiners need to know, including information gathering, interviewing offenders, and writing reports. Chapter topics include: defining risk; data gathering; diagnostic issues; recidivism base rates; risk factor lists; actuarial scales; instrumentation (violent and sexual); the evaluation report; presenting in court; ethical issues.
Download or read book Responsibility and Psychopathy written by Luca Malatesti and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-19 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The discussion of whether psychopaths are morally responsible for their behaviour has long taken place in philosophy. In recent years this has moved into scientific and psychiatric investigation. Responsibility and Psychopathy discusses this subject from both the philosophical and scientific disciplines, as well as a legal perspective.
Download or read book Sexual Predators written by Robert A. Prentky and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-06-26 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convicted sex offenders released from custody at the end of their criminal sentences pose a risk for re-offense. In many US states, Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) laws have been enacted that allow for the post-prison preventive detention of high risk sex offenders. SVP laws require the courts to make dispositions that protect the public from harm while at the same time respecting the civil rights of the offender. This book describes these SVP laws, their constitutionality, and aspects of their operation. Courts hear expert risk testimony based heavily on the results of actuarial risk assessment. Problems associated with this testimony include the lack of a theory of recidivism risk, bias due to human decision-making, and the insularity of scholarship and practice along developmental lines. The authors propose changes in legal standards, as well as a unified developmental model that treats sexual violence as an "evolving" condition, with roots traceable to childhood and paths that extend into adolescence and adulthood.
Download or read book The Psychiatric Report written by Alec Buchanan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-07 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The written report is central to the practice of psychiatry in legal settings. It is required of mental health professionals acting as expert witnesses in criminal cases, civil litigation situations, child custody proceedings and risk assessments. This book provides a theoretical background to psychiatric writing for the law and a practical guide to the preparation of the report. The first section addresses practical and ethical concerns, including the conduct of the forensic psychiatric evaluation, conflicts of interest, record keeping and confidentiality. The second section contains practical and detailed advice on preparing various types of report, including reports for use in criminal and civil litigation, civil commitment hearings and child custody proceedings. A final section covers special issues arising during report preparation including the use of psychological tests and the detection of malingering. This is an essential guide for anyone required to write a psychiatric report.
Download or read book College for Convicts written by Christopher Zoukis and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States accounts for 5 percent of the world's population, yet incarcerates about 25 percent of the world's prisoners. Examining a wealth of studies by researchers and correctional professionals, and the experience of educators, this book shows recidivism rates drop in direct correlation with the amount of education prisoners receive, and the rate drops dramatically with each additional level of education attained. Presenting a workable solution to America's mass incarceration and recidivism problems, this book demonstrates that great fiscal benefits arise when modest sums are spent educating prisoners. Educating prisoners brings a reduction in crime and social disruption, reduced domestic spending and a rise in quality of life. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Download or read book The Sexual Predator written by Anita M. Schlank and published by Civic Research Institute, Inc.. This book was released on 1999 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Treats the law, policy, evaluation, and treatment of sex offenders, including a discussion of the civil commitment of sexual predators under Minnesota's law, the role of assessment in the commitment process, a clinical view of civil commitment, and an overview of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.
Download or read book Dangerous Offenders written by Mark Brown and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The papers in this collection discuss how the dangerous offender has become a figure of collective anxiety for the citizens of rationalized Western societies, why sexual and violent offences seem so ubiquitous, and how we should protect ourselves.
Download or read book Safeguarding the Quality of Forensic Assessment in Sentencing written by Michiel Van der Wolf and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-09-30 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection provides an interdisciplinary and cross-national perspective on safeguarding the quality of forensic assessment in sentencing offenders. Taking an in-depth look at seven different Western countries, each chapter provides an overview of the role of assessment in sentencing offenders, as well as a focus on formal ways in which the respective country’s legal system and disciplinary associations protect the quality of forensic assessment. Each chapter explores how to assure better decision making in individual cases based on assessments of psycholegal concepts such as mental disorder/insanity, criminal responsibility and dangerousness. Combining the perspectives of lawyers, legal scholars, and clinicians working in the field, this book is essential for those working in and with forensic assessment. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.
Download or read book Detention and Denial written by Benjamin Wittes and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Our current stalemate over detention serves nobody—not the military or any other component of the U.S. government that has to operate overseas.... It is a system that no rational combination of values or strategic considerations would have produced; it could have emerged only as a consequence of a clash of interests that produced a clear victory for nobody."—from the Introduction Benjamin Wittes issues a persuasive call for greater coherence, clarity, and public candor from the American government regarding its detention policy and practices, and greater citizen awareness of the same. In Detention and Denial, he illustrates how U.S. detention policy is a tangle of obfuscation rather than a serious set of moral and legal decisions. Far from sharpening focus and defining clear parameters for action, it sends mixed signals, muddies the legal and military waters, and produces perverse incentives. Its random operation makes a mockery of the human rights concerns that prompted the limited amount of legal scrutiny that detention has received to date. The government may actually be painting itself into a corner, leaving itself unable to explain or justify actions it may need to take in the future. The situation is unsustainable and must be addressed. Preventive detention is a touchy subject, an easy target for eager-to-please candidates and indignant media, so public officials remain largely mum on the issue. Many Americans would be surprised to learn that no broad principle in American jurisprudence actually prohibits preventive detention; rather, the law "eschews it except when legislatures and courts deem it necessary to prevent grave public harm." But the habeas corpus legal cases that have come out of the Guantánamo Bay detentionfacility—which remains open, despite popular expectations to the contrary—have addressed only a small slice of the overall issue and have not—and will not—produce a coherent body of policy. U.S. government an
Download or read book Assessing Sex Offenders written by Terence W. Campbell and published by Charles C Thomas Publisher. This book was released on 2007 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the scientific evidence relevant to assessing the recidivism risk of sex offenders, as well as the issues related to sex offenders, in considerable detail. It is not an attempt for creating sympathy for sex offenders. Substantial numbers of psychologists claim they can accurately identify the recidivism risk of sex offenders. Despite the very limited, peer-reviewed data related to these claims, many psychologists insist the scientific evidence supports their efforts in this regard. Too often, the issues detailed in these chapters have been overlooked and/or misinterpreted. As a result, the likelihood of psychologists misusing and abusing scientific data when assessing sex offenders should not be underestimated. This book identifies numerous instances of such misuse and abuse. Topics include: sexually violent person civil commitment statutes, clinical judgment and clinical experience, guided clinical risk assessments, actuarial assessment of recidivism risk, actuarial instruments for assessing recidivism risk, computing classification accuracy, supplementary assessment procedures, adjusted actuarial assessments, diagnostic classification, treating sex offenders, and ethical obligations. Ultimately, however, the book challenges psychologists to recognize and respond to their scientific and professional responsibilities. When testifying as expert witnesses, ethical obligations prohibit psychologists from misinforming and misleading legal proceedings. These same obligations necessitate that psychologists support their opinions with relevant research data.
Download or read book Sexually Violent Predators A Clinical Science Handbook written by William T. O'Donohue and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-03 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This information-rich volume expands current knowledge about sexually violent predators and critiques SVP laws with the goal of fostering improvements in clinical practice and public policy. It offers a finely detailed evidence base on this problematic class of offenders, including the complex interactions of biophysiological and environmental factors that contribute to criminal sexual behavior. Chapters discuss a wide range of assessment issues and instruments central to SVP evaluation, and the possibilities for developing interventions that address individual motivations and behaviors to reduce the risk of reoffending. And throughout, careful attention is paid to ongoing legal, ethical, and logical concerns regarding sexually violent offenders, their treatment and confinement, and their post-confinement placement. Among the topics covered: · Civil commitment of sex offenders. · The physiological basis of problematic sexual interests and behaviors. · Sexually violent predator evaluations: problems and proposals. · Cultural considerations in the assessment of sexually violent predators. · Management of sex offenders in community settings. · Effective use of an expert in sexually violent predator commitment hearings. Offering numerous issues for discussion and debate with considerable implications for clinical practice, policy, and the judicial system, Sexually Violent Predators will interest and enlighten forensic psychologists and psychiatrists as well as social workers, policy-makers, and legal professionals.
Download or read book Briefs of Leading Cases in Corrections written by Rolando V. del Carmen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-10 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Briefs of Leading Cases in Corrections, Sixth Edition, offers extensive updates on the leading Supreme Court cases impacting corrections in the United States—prisons and jails, probation, parole, the death penalty, juvenile justice, and sexual assault offender laws. Each chapter contains an introduction to the topic area, making the book more user-friendly and a better source of succinct legal information than before. All cases are briefed in a common format to allow for comparisons among cases and include facts, relevant issues, and the Court’s decision and reasoning. The significance of each case is also explained, making clear its impact on prisoners and corrections in general. The book provides students and practitioners with historical and social context for their role in criminal justice and the legal guidelines that should be followed in day-to-day correctional activities. Twenty-one cases have been added, including those in a new section on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
Download or read book Prison by Any Other Name written by Maya Schenwar and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a new afterword from the authors, the critically praised indictment of widely embraced “alternatives to incarceration” Electronic monitoring. Locked-down drug treatment centers. House arrest. Mandated psychiatric treatment. Data driven surveillance. Extended probation. These are some of the key alternatives held up as cost effective substitutes for jails and prisons. But in a searing, “cogent critique” (Library Journal), Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law reveal that many of these so-called reforms actually weave in new strands of punishment and control, bringing new populations who would not otherwise have been subject to imprisonment under physical control by the state. Whether readers are seasoned abolitionists or are newly interested in sensible alternatives to retrograde policing and criminal justice policies and approaches, this highly praised book offers “a wealth of critical insights” that will help readers “tread carefully through the dizzying terrain of a world turned upside down” and “make sense of what should take the place of mass incarceration” (The Brooklyn Rail). With a foreword by Michelle Alexander, Prison by Any Other Name exposes how a kinder narrative of reform is effectively obscuring an agenda of social control, challenging us to question the ways we replicate the status quo when pursuing change, and offering a bolder vision for truly alternative justice practices.
Download or read book Learning Forensic Assessment written by Rebecca Jackson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2007-10-08 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an excellent resource for forensic psychology undergraduate students, this book offers students the opportunity to learn from experts, through the collection of outstanding articles. Unlike other books in the area that are topic specific, it also gives them comprehensive coverage of the subject. Divided into five broad topic areas, it covers:professional issuesjuvenile assessmentcriminal forensic assessmentcivil forensic assessmentpervasive issues - malingering and psychopathy. Written by a group of internationally renowned contributors and including didactic information as well as pro.
Download or read book The Perversion of Youth written by Frank C. DiCataldo and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, concern about adolescent sex offenders has grown at an astonishing pace, garnering heated coverage in the media and providing fodder for television shows like Law & Order. Americans’ reaction to such stories has prompted the unquestioned application to adolescents of harsh legal and clinical intervention strategies designed for serious adult offenders, with little attention being paid to the psychological maturity of the offender. Many strategies being used today to deal with juvenile sex offenders—and even to define what criteria to use in defining "juvenile sex offender"—do not have empirical support and, Frank C. DiCataldo cautions, may be doing more harm to children and society than good. The Perversion of Youth critiques the current system and its methods for treating and categorizing juveniles, and calls for a major reevaluation of how these cases should be managed in the future. Through an analysis of the history of the problem and an empirical review of the literature, including specific cases and their outcomes, DiCataldo demonstrates that current practices are based more on our collective fears and moral passions than on any supportive science or sound policy.
