NCJ Number
207456
Journal
Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 41-57
Date Published
2004
Length
17 pages
Annotation
After examining whether sexually violent predators (SVP's) are criminal or mentally ill, this article describes four models for the civil commitment of SVP's, reviews current civil commitment laws and programs in the 50 States, and discusses implications for mental health professionals.
Abstract
Whether or not a violent sexual predator is viewed as a criminal or a person in need of treatment for mental illness, a State's policy toward SVP's will likely be determined by political pressure to ensure that citizens are protected from sexually aggressive and predatory offenders. Among the issues being considered for increasing public protection from SVP's is indefinite civil commitment. The four models for such civil commitment are the sexual psychopathic model, under which indefinite civil commitment is based on compliance with the legal definition for psychopathology and the subject is found to be amenable to treatment; the postconviction commitment model, which provides for indefinite confinement in government institutions when the court decides that the offender is dangerous; mental health commitment, which provides for indefinite civil commitment for mental health services when a person is judged to have dangerous compulsive behaviors or repetitive patterns of dangerous behavior; and postprison commitment, which provides for indefinite civil commitment for persons deemed to be a continuing danger to the public after a prison sentence has been completed. A table of civil commitment laws and programs for each State presents the State's name, the year it became effective, eligibility criteria, setting for commitment, length of commitment, responsible agency, and whether a jury trial is required for civil commitment. As more such laws are enacted, this article advises that there will be a need for research to address the parameters of sexually violent behaviors, program flexibility, and treatment effectiveness. 2 tables, and 29 references