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How Are Adult Felony Sex Offenders Managed on Probation and Parole? A National Survey, Final Report

NCJ Number
163388
Author(s)
K English; S Colling-Chadwick; S Pullen; L Jones
Date Published
1996
Length
124 pages
Annotation
A national telephone survey of 732 probation and parole supervisors was conducted to evaluate the management of adult felony sex offenders; data were also obtained from a review of the research literature on victim trauma and sex offender management and treatment, a systematic document review, and field research at 13 sites in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Louisiana, Oregon, and Texas.
Abstract
It was found that specialized caseloads existed in 30 percent of probation agencies and 32 percent of parole agencies surveyed. Respondents representing agencies with specialized sex offender caseloads were significantly more likely to report the use of policies and procedures that focused on victim safety, imposed special supervision conditions, stressed the use of polygraph data for treatment and supervision, emphasized after- hours offender monitoring, included the use of jail or halfway houses as intermediate sanctions, and promoted sex offender management training within the last year. A written victim impact statement was included in the offender's case file in 78 percent of probation agencies and 63 percent of parole agencies. Officer contact with assault victims, as reported by 29 percent of probation supervisors and 19 percent of parole supervisors, was more likely to occur with specialized caseloads. Court-ordered or officer-ordered treatment requirements and no contact provisions were the most commonly reported special conditions of probation and parole. The use of electronic monitoring of sex offenders was reported by about 10 percent of both probation and parole agencies. Over 85 percent of probation and parole supervisors said treatment was always or often a condition for sex offenders receiving community supervision. Specialized agencies were more likely to use confinement as a prerevocation sanction compared with electronic monitoring or increased supervision contacts. Sanctions that could be imposed immediately, in less than 24 hours, were the most likely sanctions short of revocation to be used by probation and parole officers. Some form of mental health treatment was required of sex offenders placed under supervision by more than 80 percent of probation and parole agencies. Participation in sex offender management training was reported by 68 percent of probation and parole supervisors, and one-third of respondents reported an interagency group met regularly to discuss sex offender issues. Information on the study's research methods, the sex offender management survey instrument, and sample documents are appended. References, tables, and figures