NCJ Number
243096
Date Published
2011
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Assessing current public policy toward sex offenders as dehumanizing and based in a punitive effort to deprive them of the most basic human rights, this chapter proposes a new paradigm that humanizes sexual offenders under a restorative justice model.
Abstract
The chapter refers to New Zealand's family group conferencing (FGC) used with adolescent sex offenders in New Zealand. This is a model adapted from the Maori culture, where it has been used for centuries in responding to a variety of offenses, including sexual offenses and family violence. The theory of the FGC is that discussion of the harm and distress caused to the victim and the offender's family will stir shame in the offender. The assembling of people who care about and respect the offender fosters reintegration of social relationships. In a successful conference, the offender experiences remorse for the crime's effects within a context of support, love, and respect from family and friends. A plan of action is developed in the conference in order to prevent further harm. One of the difficulties in using FGC with child or adolescent sexual offenders is distinguishing between healthy shame engendered by the offending behaviors and the likely presence of internalized shame created by the offender's own sexual victimization. In the face of repeated designations as detestable criminals, young sex offenders are likely to abandon their self-concept as "normal" persons and internalize their public definition as deviants; however, this potential difficulty in the FGC model's implementation should not prevent engagement in new, reconciliatory forms of on the other hand, modifications are recommended for the FGC model. Levels of escalating interventions are outlined, given the tendency of adult sexual offenders to engage in compulsive behavior. At each of the levels, a community of concern is involved. 15 references