Sex Offenders Emerging from Long-Term Imprisonment. A Study of Their Long-Term Reconviction Rates and of Parole Board Members' Judgements of Their Risk

Posted: 29 Feb 2008

See all articles by Roger Hood

Roger Hood

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Stephen Shute

University of Sussex

Martina Feilzer

Bangor University - Bangor University

Aidan Wilcox

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2002

Abstract

This study challenges a number of preconceptions about the risks posed by sex offenders who have been sentenced to long determinate terms of imprisonment: 162 prisoners were followed-up for four years and 94 for six years. The category 'sexual offender' was disaggregated in order to examine reconviction rates of offenders against adults as compared with offenders against children, whether in an intra-familial or extra-familial setting, and to explore evidence of 'specialization'. The study also analysed the extent to which members of the Parole Board, in deliberating on the suitability of these prisoners for parole, correctly identified as 'high risks' those who were subsequently reconvicted of a sexual or serious violent crime. These 'clinical' predictions were compared with those derived from an actuarial prediction instrument for sex offenders. The findings have implications for both sentencing and parole.

Suggested Citation

Hood, Roger and Shute, Stephen and Feilzer, Martina and Wilcox, Aidan, Sex Offenders Emerging from Long-Term Imprisonment. A Study of Their Long-Term Reconviction Rates and of Parole Board Members' Judgements of Their Risk ( 2002). British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 42, Issue 2, pp. 371-394, 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=905391

Roger Hood (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Stephen Shute

University of Sussex

Martina Feilzer

Bangor University - Bangor University

Aidan Wilcox

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

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