NCJ Number
103260
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (1984) Pages: 47-53
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the effects on incest offenders and their families of current practices in investigating and treating such offenders.
Abstract
Fifteen offenders attending the Utah Parents United group completed a questionnaire on the sequence of events in the investigation and prosecution of their cases and the effects of the investigation on their job status, living and financial situations, family and social relationships, and media reporting of the abuse. There was significant variation in procedures for investigating and prosecuting incest cases and in the public announcement of incest convictions. The consequences of ther investigation were generally devastating for the offender and his family, resulting in job loss; the need for public assistance; family disintegration due to removal of the offender, victim, or both from the family, marital separation, and foster care for nonabused siblings; residence changes; and the public announcement of the abuse in the media. Offenders received little or no social support from family or friends. Procedures for the investigation and prosecution of incest offenders should be changed to ban the publication of child abuse convictions, streamline the legal process to make it consistent from case to case, and develop diversion programs as alternatives to prison for incest offenders. Diversion programs might include self-help, court-ordered therapy, and programs such as Parents United, which focus on the treatment of families which have experienced child sexual abuse and incest. Such programs could produce lower offender recidivism, avoidance of the family's need for welfare, less reliance on foster care for the children, possible family reunion, and the use of halfway houses in lieu of incarceration for offenders. 4 tables and 14 references. (Publisher abstract modified)