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Abstract
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PURPOSE: This study aimed to systematically review the recidivism rates of older male sex offenders (50+) relative to their younger counterparts.
Background: The older sex offender population in the UK is growing, which creates new challenges for offender management (i.e. risk management and psychological treatment). To address these challenges, it is important to consider recidivism risk among this aging population. No previous systematic review has focused on the reoffending of the older sex offender.
Methods: Six electronic databases were searched, as was the reference list of a relevant meta-analysis. Inclusion criteria were applied to the search results. The included studies were quality assessed using pre-defined criteria. This was followed by data extraction and synthesis.
Results: The electronic search returned 4,266 results. One additional publication was identified through hand searching. 1,137 duplicates, one meta-analysis, and 3,051 irrelevant publications were excluded. 48 publications were excluded due to not meeting the inclusion criteria. 11 publications were not accessible in the timeframe. Two studies were excluded as they did not meet the minimum threshold criteria, and another was excluded due to missing data. A further five studies were excluded that re-analysed already included samples. This left 11 publications containing 11 studies.
Conclusions: Older sex offenders generally have lower sexual recidivism rates than younger offenders. However, this appears to be moderated by several factors, including offender typology, actuarial risk and criminal history, and results vary. These factors, alongside the poor quality of some studies, make it very difficult to determine the critical age of desistance from sexual offending. Given the importance of this in relation to case management, it is recommended that further high-quality research is conducted in this area.
Language: en |