Sex Offenders Essay

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Recommended: forensic psychology in criminal investigations

Sex crimes are one of the most serious problems in the United States today. The legal system is casual when it comes to punishing sex criminals with insufficiently short prison sentences that are further reduced by the option of parole. While sexual offenders comprise a sizable portion of U.S. prison inmates, they evoke an even greater portion of public concern, (Boccaccini, Murrie, Caperton, & Hawes, 2009). Most sex offenders are released back into society after serving as little as one- fourth of their prison sentence. Recidivism is extremely high among sexual predators; 75% are convicted more than once for sexually abusing young people, (Boccaccini, Murrie, Caperton, & Hawes, 2009).

The courts rely on forensic psychologist to determine the possibility of recidivism of a sex offender. Forensic psychologist must then rely on the assessment and test of those …show more content…

The integration of information from numerous sources in which a psychologist complies this information from test such as personality, intelligence, attitudes, and information gained from personal interviews. Collateral information is also collected about personal, occupational, and medical histories. This is collected from interviews and reports from parents, friends, spouses, teachers, employers, prior therapists, and physicians. Psychological testing is only one source of data used within the processing of assessment, much more than one test can be given and in most cases are giving to obtain information for psychological assessment. This process is most valuable when providing a diagnosis for treatment. In order for useful psychological measures to be gathered the measures must be both valid and reliable. This is not magic; the psychologist relies on the information that is gathered to provide a cohesive diagnosis of pathology and recidivism

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