High Risk Offender Rehabilitation

Cailin Frusti
Intro to Probation and Parole
25 March 2017
 Over the past decades, the number of individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses has

risen dramatically. This type of offense has risen, and although not every victim has reported the

crime, the number of people convicted of such offenses has increased. However, one thing that

has been focused on as a result of such a rise has been how to rehabilitate these offenders.

Researcher and law enforcement officials have come up with various methods of rehabilitation

for sexual offenders to reduce the recidivism rates among the offenders.

One rehabilitation method that individuals such as researchers and law enforcement

officials have developed for sexual offenders is specialized sex offender treatment. Such

treatment was developed around sex offenders and what would work best to prevent them from

becoming repeat offenders. However, this type of treatment is quite different than the typical

counseling or therapy that an individual may receive. The main reason behind such treatment

would be to protect both the victims of the sexual offender and the community. In addition,

information discussed in treatment sessions is shared with supervision agents, polygraph

examiners, and others as necessary (Center for Sex Offender Management, 2002). This is quite

different from the typical counseling sessions one may undergo if a different type of offense was

committed. Typically, information shared during sessions would be kept confidential and

between the offender and the counselor or therapist. Often times, after offending, a sexual

offender may not understand or realize the harm that they have inflicted upon the damage. Part of

the specialized sex offender treatment is to help the offender truly understand the harm they have

done. Finally, offenders participate in professionally facilitated group sessions in which they

challenge one another about their denial, distortions, and manipulation (Center for Sex Offender

Management, 2002). This plays an important role in the specialized sex offender treatment and

helps protect the victims and the community from the offender.
 Another rehabilitation method that individuals have developed for sexual offenders is

post-conviction polygraph examinations. Polygraph examinations have been used to monitor

probationers and particularly child abusers, since the mid 1960s (Kokish, 2003). Such

polygraphs are used as a tool to help manage sex offenders once they have re-entered their

community. The primary purposes of such testing is to to obtain more complete sexual histories

and to monitor program compliance (Kokish, 2003). If the offender is engaging in behavior that

is not compliant with the standards their probation has set out for them, the polygraph test could

potentially show the law enforcement officials of such behavior. If such an alarm is raised, the

law enforcement official can review and revise their case or take some sort of action to ensure

that their chances of recidivism are not increased and to help promote their success in the

program. These law enforcement officials are specifically trained to read sexual offender

polygraph tests and specialize in such an area. However, there are several different types of post-

conviction polygraph tests for sexual offenders, each with their own purpose. The first type is

known as full disclosure, or sexual history examinations. These types of tests are used to learn

about the offenders full and complete history of sexual behavior. Treatment providers who use

polygraphy argue that complete historical information allows them to hold offenders more

accountable and helps them to target treatment interventions more precisely, all of which

ultimately helps lower reoffense rates for treated offenders (Kokish, 2003). By learning such

information, the polygraph examiner can learn how to reduce the offenders chances of

recidivism. The second type of post-conviction polygraph examination for sexual offenders is

known as specific issue examinations. These are used to examine sexual offenders who are still

committed to saying they did not commit the crime, or will not own up to their offense. The final

type of examination that can be used for sexual offenders is known as maintenance or monitoring
examinations. These are used for verifying that the offender is following their conditions and

treatments given to them when they were re-entered into the community.

For high risk offenders, such as sexual offenders, there is the option of intensive

supervision instead of regular supervision. Regular supervision is a very basic form of

supervision where the offender reports to their probation officer on a regular basis. However, this

is different than if someone is assigned to intensive supervision, which is given out in lieu of

incarceration. This is given out to those who, if not given intensive supervision, would otherwise

be incarcerated. This form of supervision is a much stricter version of regular supervision.

This increased level of control is usually achieved through reduced case loads, increased

number of contacts, and a range of required activities for participating offenders that can

include victim restitution, community service, employment, random urine and alcohol

testing, electronic monitoring, and payment of a probation supervision fee (Probation

and Parole: Supervision).

In other words, since the intensive supervision probation officers have a lighter case load, they

have more control over the offender and can be stricter with supervision the offender. Based on

the offense, the correct requirements of the intensive supervision can be assigned and the

probation officer can closely monitor the offender and their progress.

Over the past decades, the number of individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses has

risen dramatically. However, as the number of individuals incarcerated for such an offense has

increased, so have the methods of rehabilitation for this offense. With these new methods, law

enforcement officials can better help the offender and protect the community and the victims
from the offender. This protection is a very dominant goal of sex offender rehabilitation

programs, and continues to drive more rehabilitation methods to emerge.

References

Center of Sex Offender Management. (2002 July). An Overview of Sex Offender Management.
Retrieved from: http://www.csom.org/pubs/csom_bro.pdf
Kokish, Ron. (2003, April 22). The Current Role of Post Conviction Sex Offender Polygraph
Testing In Sex Offender Treatment. Retrieved from:
https://ccoso.org/sites/default/files/import/Kokish---Polygraph---SOT.pdf
(n.d.). Probation and Parole: Supervision. Retrieved from:
http://law.jrank.org/pages/1842/Probation-Parole-Supervision-Intensive-supervision.html