Research on recidivism tools for women lags significantly behind that on men. Additionally, what little research there is on the risk assessment of women is often limited and does not specifically address mental health issues.

Summary

This study specifically looked at 525 German women who were admitted to a German Psychiatric Hospital at the request of the courts.

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post Forensic Recidivism Tools for Women first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

Do psychopathic indicators remain past adolescence or are they shed through the maturing process? How does this impact sentencing?

Summary

Research solidly states that psychopathy is a predictor of future recidivism for individuals convicted of many types of crimes.

The research is not as clear when it comes to psychopathy and juvenile offenders.

The question with psychopathy in juvenile offenders is whether the traits are part of a developmental phase or if the traits are stable over time (as the person ages).

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post Are Psychopathic Traits in Juveniles Stable Over Time? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

An article about how emotional neglect and abuse intersect with depression and sexual offending in individuals on the autism spectrum.

Summary

In recent years, the prevalence of individuals on our caseloads who are on the Autism Spectrum is increasing. 

This is spurring an increase in research related to sexual offending and ASD. 

This article, however, is from 2013 and shows this combination has been of concern for some time.

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post Abuse and Depression in Autistic Adolescent Sexual Offenders first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

How does it differ from straight, cisgender individuals?

Summary

While there is some research relating to the experiences of individuals on sex offender registries, there is no published data that specifically looks at the experiences of anyone in the LGBTQ community who is also required to register as a sexual offender on a SORNA registry.  

A new survey conducted by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law was recently published whose aim was to gather general information regarding all individuals’ experiences of being on the registry as well as to specifically ascertain the experiences of non-cisgendered individuals. 

The online survey was conducted between March and November of 2020 and data from 964 individuals was analyzed. Of all the respondents, 20% identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/pansexual and/or transgender. The authors stated that the percentage of LGBTQ people in the sample was almost 4 times greater than the national estimate of LGBTQ people in the US.

A summary of the findings:

• 42% of all respondents reported incomes that were below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
• 30% of LGBTQ and 20% of straight cisgender respondents were unemployed. 
  • This was at a time when the national unemployment rate was between 4.4% to 14.8%.
• The LGBTQ respondents, when compared to the straight cisgender respondents, more often had three or more victims (17% v 9%).
• Almost half of the LGBTQ individuals had a victim who were images vs. less than ¼ of the straight cisgender adults
• 64% of all respondents reported dissatisfaction with their defense
• Over half of all respondents were incarcerated but more LGBTQ individuals were incarcerated than straight cisgender respondents.  (65% v 53%).
• 10% of the LGBTQ individuals reported that the mandated psychological treatment they attended included elements that are known as conversion therapy.
• 66% of all respondents reported being verbally insulted or abused, 45% reported being threatened with violence and 37% were robbed or vandalized and most attributed the motivation for the attacks to their being on the registry. 
• Lifetime suicidality rates are very high (71% total) with LGBTQ people reported a prevalence of 77% versus 69% for cisgender straight respondents. 
• Over half of all respondents reported having supportive family or friends who help them (LGBTQ 59%; cisgender 66%)

Overall, the experiences of the LGBTQ persons on the SORNA registry are similar to those of their male, cisgender straight counterparts.

Implications for Mitigation

This study provides implications not necessarily for mitigation but for post-conviction restrictions. As a result of being on the SORNA registry, almost all individuals experience negative consequences beyond their incarceration and probation. These negative consequences increase dynamic risk of recidivism. Therefore, less restrictive registry measures would not potentially contribute to an increased risk of recidivism.

Reference

The post What is the Experience of LGBTQ people on the Sex Offender Registry? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

How does the scientific knowledge differ from the way a court views adolescents versus adults?

Summary

When it comes to the definition of adolescent and adult, science and the legal system have very different definitions. In most jurisdictions, a person who is 18 years old is considered an adult and some individuals who are younger than 18 can be tried as an adult based on the crime they commit. According to science, a brain is not fully developed until the person is in their early to mid-20’s. 

Reference

The post What do we Know about the Adolescent Brain? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What is the real age of maturity and how could this affect sentencing mitigation?

Summary

In the criminal justice system, a person is deemed an adult at the age of 18. In some jurisdictions, depending on the crime, a legal minor can be tried as an adult before they reach the chronological age of 18. While the legal age of adulthood is fixed, it is in direct contrast with what we know from neuroscience.

Reference

The post Maturation of the Adolescent Brain first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What are the socioeconomic demographics of juvenile offenders and how do non-CSEM offenses play into recidivism?

Summary

The increase in access to pornography has meant an increase in juveniles accessing child sexual exploitation material. This means an increase in these juveniles being arrested and charged for possession of the materials.  As we know that juvenile sexual offending is different from adult offending, research is needed to truly understand this phenomenon in juveniles.

Reference

The post Criminal Histories and Recidivism Rates for Juveniles Convicted of Child Pornography Possession first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What are the most common demographic and personality factors that encompass this little researched group?

Summary

When a physician violates a sexual boundary with a patient, it often opens them up to not just potential legal issues but civil lawsuits and potential suspension of their license to practice medicine.  Despite sexual boundary crossing being a common reason for physicians to have license issues, there is not a great deal of research on the topic.

Reference

The post Sexual Boundary Violations by Doctors first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

The implications of race and utilizing the Static-99R for assessing risk in sentencing.

Summary

It has long been known that individuals who commit sexual crimes are heterogenous, meaning that there are many differences among them. This fact makes it difficult to make broad and sweeping generalizations about sexual offenders. One aspect of this heterogeneity is race.

Reference

The post Racial Differences in American Adult Male Sexual Offenders first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What sort of traumatic events are most likely to be in the history of female sexual offenders? Besides the offending behavior, what other effects might adverse childhood experiences have on female sexual offenders?

Summary

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) have been studied in many populations, from the general public to offenders of all types. ACES have been correlated to everything from medical issues to addiction and suicide risk.

What is the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale?

The ACE scale is a 10-point scale that assesses for the presence or absence of 10 different adverse events that a person may have experienced before their 18^th birthday.

These include items such as parental divorce or incarceration, abuse of any kind, parental addiction or mental health issues, the presence of domestic violence or neglect.  In the general public, women endorse more ACEs than men and 25% of women endorse a history of sexual abuse as a child.

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

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Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor looking for Continuing Education Hours? Dr. Weeks provides courses related to Female Sexual Offending and many other topics on Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

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Did you arrive here looking for information about childhood trauma, or adverse childhood experiences? Dr. Weeks offers a free, scientifically-validated, anonymous assessment on her personal blog. Take the Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire.

The post Adverse Childhood Experiences in Female Sexual Offenders first appeared on Mitigation Aide.