Michael Laws is Wrong – Prison Sex Offender Programmes Do Work

“Michael Laws claim that prison programmes for child sex offenders are ‘spectacularly unsuccessful’, are well of the mark, as is his understanding about the characteristics of paedophiles”, says Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. He was referring to Michael Laws column, “Stop the Brutes, they are preying on our kids” (Sunday Star Times 20 March). On the contrary, it is one of the few prison programmes that works.”

“The Department of Corrections have been world leaders in reducing reoffending by child sex offenders. The Kia Marama and Te Piriti programmes have been in operation for over 10 years, and their research shows that following release from prison, those men who have offended sexually against children will be convicted of a further sexual offence at a rate of 11% after 10 years. Compare that with the 60 – 70% reoffending rate of other offenders who leave the prison, and his claim is without substance. Moreover, there are good measures which are used to screen all child sex offenders who are released for their risk to determine those who should be selected for more intense supervision.”

“Michael fears that his children will be groomed by a stranger. He needs to look closer to home. Less than 10% of all paedophiles commit offences against children who are unknown to them. A recent survey at Te Piriti, (the Corrections sex offender’s treatment unit in Auckland ) showed that of 570 men who went through the programme only 49 committed their offences against victims who were unknown to them. In other words, only 8.6% of the offenders did not know their victims.”

“He raises the idea of public national registers of convicted child sex offenders. One of the major shortcomings of such registers, is that they instill a sense of false public security The simple truth is that most sexual offenders are not going to be registered. The 2006 New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey found that only a small minority of sexual offences (9%) are reported to the Police. Of those reported about half end up in Court and less than half result in a conviction. So only around 2-3% of all sexual offences will result in an offender being registered. Every year, most of the sexual offences committed involve 'new' offenders. In the UK , members of the public who submitted the names of their neighbours and other suspects to the Sex Offenders Register, got a negative match in 96% of cases.
In such a world, the suspicions of parents and caregivers are the best and most effective defences against sexual offending towards children. A convicted paedophile who was a groomer, commented to me that the most important thing a parent could do to protect their children from offenders like him was to pay them attention. He found it impossible to victimise those who received a lot of time and attention from their parents and had open lines of communication with them.”

“What should we do, after a sex offender is released into the community? The most promising intervention, involves the community in both supporting released sex offenders, and holding them accountable. Known as Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) this approach originated in Canada in the mid-1990s and has been showing success there and in England . One of the strengths of this approach is that it more evenly balances the needs of individual communities and those of the sex offender – something that is essential for successful reintegration and therefore wider public safety. The community is represented by a group of about 4-6 volunteers (the Circle) who are willing to take personal responsibility for supporting the offender (Core Member) in successfully reintegrating back into the community and also for holding them accountable for their actions. The Circle begins working with the offender before they are released and are headed by a Circle Coordinator who is connected to (and sometimes works for) other relevant agencies and professionals (e.g. Probation, the Police, Psychological Services). The reduction in sex offending is significant. Using a matched sample of sex offenders in Canada , only 2% of circle participants had reoffended sexually, compared to over 12% of non-participants. They were also almost four times less likely to reoffend violently and 3.5 times less likely to reoffend generally.”

Kim Workman
Director
Rethinking Crime and Punishment

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