Citation

Langevin R, Curnoe S. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2012; 56(7): 997-1021.

Affiliation

University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Juniper Associates, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X11420084

PMID

21862525

Abstract

A sample of 2,190 sex offenders seen between 1966 and 2009 was compared on lifetime sexual and all offending, using charges, convictions, court appearances, and self-report as criteria. Of these various criteria, between 47.4% and 81.1% reoffended. Canadian child abuse reporting laws, which came into effect in the 1980s, were associated with increased charges and convictions for offenders, who victimized children, and with a reduction in their longer term reoffense rates. Immigration and population mobility, use of aliases, study follow-up time, and self-reported undetected sex crimes influenced reoffense rates. Results indicate that sex offenders continued to have short prison sentences and/or spend little or no time incarcerated during the latter part of the 20th century.

Language: en