Morgan, L. W., McClendon, L. S., McCarty, J., & Zinck, K. (2016). Supporting every child: School counselors’ perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in schools. Journal of School Counseling, 14. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.montana.edu/articles/v14n1.pdf 1. The number of juveniles committing sexual offenses is steadily growing causing a reasonable concern for counselors and their schools.
2. The juvenile sex offender needs to be supported in-school but is often neglected because there are no rules and regulations to prompt action.
3. Recidivism rates among juvenile sex offenders are low suggesting that intervention, counseling, and treatment can be effective.
4. Positive school environments are essential in the recovery of juvenile sex offenders.
5. More research is needed to understand specifically how counselors can support juvenile sex offenders. The amount of juveniles
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Researchers Leann Morgan, Levi McClendon, Jenna McCarty, and Kirk Zinck explore what that means for school counselors who will more than likely come into contact with a juvenile sex offender at some point in their career. It’s also likely that school counselors will be the main source of school support for the juvenile sex offender. With this in mind I agree fully with the premise of the article which states that regardless of the student and what they’ve done the counselor must still be capable of not only supporting them but being a champion for the student as well. While I think the thought behind the article is necessary and worth looking into, I think the authors don’t expand enough on what possible policies and procedures could look like in the future concerning counseling juvenile sex offenders. The article is full of statistics that don’t contribute to my further understanding of
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their
There are numerous treatment plans for these young sex offenders. There is one treatment called the National Adolescent perpetrator network. Its stated as an offender they are accountable for their crimes. Meetings and social gatherings with one another are very suitable treatments. Of course, the main issue to stop offending is by stopping them from further abusing and making it a safer for public. The only issue with sex offenders is they will always have this
There have been many federal acts passed in correspondence with sex offenses that illicit feat with the public. There are many different types of ways in which Levenson & colleagues’ (2007) describes the perceptions that the public has based on certain factors. For instance, in relation to the perception about the sex offender notification system, a survey produced results of around 80 percent in favor of these registries, because these individuals felt safer in their communities knowing who was in their neighborhood. Further, due to this fear that resonated in the early 1990’s communities do have tools such as residential restrictions, civil commitment, notification procedures, etc. that aid in the protection. However, there are myths associated with sex offenders, for example legislation often states that the reasoning for new laws and regulations is due to the high recidivism rates. However, sex offenders have significantly lower recidivism rates than believed. Also, there are countless people who do not believe that sex offenders can be assisted with techniques from a psychological standpoint. Most people think that these offenders cannot be treated, however, there is research being conducted that is promising. Finally, there is a common misconception that sex offenders kill their victims, especially children more often than other killers, however this is not true.
Great assessment of the clients needs furthermore clients who have convictions regarding sexual offenses with minors are even more difficult due to resources being limited in the community especially, housing. However in CT probation is a tremendous help when it comes to housing individual with these kind of convictions. We have a few halfway houses which are group setting and shelters specifically used for sex offenders in different towns. Although, you live in Idaho they may have some services that might assist you. Most times they don’t advertise this assistance because it limited however if you can advocate for the client it could help. I have worked as a case manager for last 15 years and we have to find solutions for all types of clients
When working with this specific population mental health professionals are often called on to evaluate and manage sex offender’s behavior. There are also times when individuals may be asked to give an opinion as to if the offender will repeat the behavior. Often times people that work with this population are referred to as (SOSs) Sex Offender Specialists. They have a specific group of diverse training and background. Some of these trainings incIude but are not limited to cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, and therapeutic orientations.
UCLA Law Review source is most reliable because it draws leading practitioners, students, and professors to a forum that is designed to exchange of ideas and to facilitate. The presumption is that minors cannot legally consent to sex and thus are always victims. Being characterized as a victim helps youth access support services and avoid prosecution in certain circumstances. However, local and state governments struggle to provide all youth with comprehensive resources. The conventional wisdom is that the distinction between legal and equitable remedies is outmoded and serves no purpose. Young people locked up in juvenile prisons have an enormous need for mental healthcare, one which juvenile prisons have consistently found themselves unable
Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the
Roughly 79.4% of adolescent sex offenders experienced sexual abuse while only 46.7% of nonsexual offenders reported abuse (Burton, Miller, & Shills, 2002).
The unbelievable reality is that a person who sexually abuses children may seem very average and ordinary to the world. He/she may be a leader in the church, in the community or in business, a sports coach, scout leader, or celebrity. Sex offenders do not fit a classic stereotype and are not necessarily uneducated, unemployed, impoverished or an alcoholic.
How is it easily to assume that these children are passed the redemption stage and far from help if it is not taken into consideration at all. When there are adults that are known predators and even murders who are constantly placed in prison and after a certain amount of time served are released back into the public to cause havoc yet again. Resources like evidence based programs are forfeited when juveniles are charged as adults. Evidence based programs, “Analysis of programs that are effective in addressing juvenile justice issues can assist with choosing appropriate and cost effective interventions. Improvements in the measurement, analysis, collection, reporting, and use of data are integral to improving outcomes for youth.” ( http://www.ncsc.org/Topics/Children-Families-and-Elders/Juvenile-Justice-and-Delinquency/Juvenile-Justice-and-Reform/Home.aspx ) A lot of these reform methods have been used and proved to have worked, turning juveniles who were once thought of as a loss cause become a functioning adult in society. Without further criminal activity or thoughts or wanting to commit any other crimes since then on. For instance, “various forms of family therapy and cognitive-behavioral interventions, are designed to change a youth’s
The number of registered sex offenders have increasingly grew over the years. Every day you see a man or women added to the registry for crimes against women and mostly children. The sex offender registries biggest and main focus is to keep the people in the community in each city and state informed and protected. ”Sex offenders and sex crimes provoke a great deal of anxiety in our society.” Baker, J, Brannon, Y, N., Fortney. , Levenson, J.S. (“Public Perceptions about Sex Offenders and Community Protection”). The sex offender registry is based solely on protecting the public from being a victim
In the United States, failure to adequately discriminate between and among sex offenses and the overuse of the label “sex offense” has led to the polarization and over criminalization of sex crimes and has resulted in a lack of reintegration options for these alleged criminals. The term “sex offender” needs to be reserved for those individuals who best represent the meaning of the term. (Colbert, 2011, p. 1) According to US Department of Justice, a sex offender is anyone convicted of an offense of a sexual nature under the law of any jurisdiction, this also includes juveniles fourteen years of age and older. (Colbert, 2011, p. 1) In the United States, the term sex offender is too broad and can be very misleading. There is a widespread misconception among society that the meaning of sex offender is pedophile and rapist, but a sex offender can be someone that was caught urinating in public or they can be underage teenagers having consensual sex. This lack of distinction between sex offenses results in a misinformed society and this absence of information in regards to sex offenses and the presence of the sex offender registry fuels society 's ignorance and heightened prejudices towards "sex offenses." The stigma that comes with the label "sex offense” persists beyond sentencing due to the parameters of the law, making reintegration of alleged criminals into society overbearing and near impossible. These registries are public record, however they only state partial information
Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like
Sex offenders tend to blend in to society virtually unnoticed until they offend or reoffend (Polizzi, MacKenzie, & Hickman, 1999). Currently, there is a large group of mental health professionals representing a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry clinical social work, counseling, and medicine, that continue to believe in the potential efficacy of treating sex offenders. Over the past decade, the sex offender treatment field has grown rapidly and the treatment of juvenile sex offenders is on the rise (Parks & Bard, 2006). The rationale for treating juvenile offenders is based on research which indicates that inappropriate sexual behavior patterns develop early and a failure to intervene and change behavior early often means that the offender will continue to escalate his/her inappropriate behavior, which could present an even greater danger to society (Ayland & West, 2006). Vivian-Bryne, (2004) suggests that professionals who treat adult sex offenders report that offenders who are incarcerated will eventually return to the community and therefore, therapeutic measures should be taken to reduce the likelihood that they will reoffend even if those measures have not conclusively been identified as effective. Sexual offenders may find therapy valuable because it can allow them to retrace their upbringing to help them identify and understand the roots of their
The environment a child is surrounded in is what develops a child’s perception into the mind of a criminal. The mind of a child is made purely of innocence until one is exposed to destructive developmental patterns. Children that have grown into the shoes of a criminal had been raised into a home with no control and where the environment creates vulnerability. Those who grow up into childhood with an unorganized lifestyle only want to possess the control and power that criminals contain. Children raised in this unstable environment develop a slow pace of skills adolescents learn earlier on (Shi and Nicol par.2). Juvenile sex offenders do not fully develop basic skills which makes it easier to be negatively pressured by society (par.