Adult sex offenders in youth-oriented institutions: evidence on sexual victimisation experiences of offenders and their offending patterns

This study investigates child sexual abuse committed by adult males in youth-oriented institutions. Foreword There is significant interest in the issue of child sexual abuse committed in institutional settings. This study uses information collected from a sample of 23 convicted Canadian sex offenders to examine key elements of the offending. Issues explored include the nature of the offender’s involvement with institutions, their own prior sexual victimisation experiences, factors influencing the selection of victims and the locations where the sexual assaults occurred. Particularly telling was the length of time offenders spent at an institution prior to initiating the assaults and the potential to avert offending by reducing opportunities to offend, as well as the associated danger evident in allowing staff—without supervision—to transport children outside of an institutional setting, given the frequency of the assaults that occurred offsite

Beyond sexual recidivism : a review of the sexual criminal career parameters of adult sex offenders

The current study claims that measures of sexual recidivism provide a distorted view of the criminal activity of adult sex offenders. To address this important limitation, the criminal career perspective is presented and key concepts are defined and described. The study also provides an up-to-date review of the scientific literature on various criminal career parameters of the sexual criminal activity of adult sex offenders. Hence, current empirical knowledge on the prevalence, age of onset, frequency, continuity, versatility, and desistance from sex offending is presented. The findings highlight the complexities of the sexual criminal career of adult sex offenders, and most importantly, its dynamic aspect, both of which are not captured by traditional measures of sexual recidivism. The review also underscores the importance of recognizing that sexual offending develops according to a series of stages, that, if not recognized, may lead to the underestimation of risk for some and over-estimation of risk for others. The review provides a framework to stimulate new areas of research as well as policy-development that is not limited to the identification of the “high-risk” convicted sex offenders

Understanding the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women : four generations of research and theorizing

Several explanations have been proposed to explain the origins and the development of rape and sexual aggression against women. For the most part, the first three generations of research and theorizing provided an inherently static view of the propensity among males to commit a sexual aggression, providing little information about the developmental processes involved in the origins and course of sexually aggressive behavior. This article provides a review of contemporary explanations of sexual aggression against women and an examination of the underlying developmental issues that these models imply. Given the emergence of longitudinal research on sexual aggression, these issues are then contrasted and compared with the relatively nascent body of knowledge about the origins and the development of sexual aggression over the life course. More specifically, in recent years a fourth generation of research and theorizing concerned by the developmental and life course factors conducive to rape and sexual aggression has emerged. This fourth generation proposes a more dynamic etiological framework to understand the origins and the development of sexually aggressive behaviors that is directed by men toward women. Emerging research from this generation highlight unresolved issues about, among other things, the understanding of the continuity and discontinuity of rape and sexual aggression over time as well as the developmental pathways leading to rape and sexual aggression

Evaluation of Home Detention in South Australia: Report 1

In February 2017, following the completion of a competitive tender process, DCS commissioned research to evaluate the impact of newly implemented changes to Home Detention in South Australia. The findings show that the reforms to court-ordered HD (COHD) and release-ordered HD (ROHD) had a demonstrable positive impact across multiple domains. In May 2020, DC commissioned the same team of researchers to conduct an independent evaluation of Home Detention, to provide a longitudinal assessment of the impact of legislative and program changes. This report presents findings for the program outcomes for a two-and-a-half year period from November 2018 (when the first evaluation project concluded) to June 2021

Aboriginal Resource Access in Response to Criminal Victimization in an Urban Context

Arts, Education and LawNo Full Tex

An Examination of Noncompleted Sexual Offences, Offenders’ Perceptions of Risks and Difficulties and Related Situational Factors

Objectives: The current study aims to generate insights from sexual offenders on noncompleted sexual offences, that is, on offences that were stopped or discouraged. Methods: Using a sample of sexual offenders who initiated a sexual offence but were stopped or discouraged in action, which we refer to as noncompleted offences, we first examine which and how situational factors and internal states may affect their assessment of risks of apprehension and difficulties in this context. Second, we examine whether situational factors, internal states as well as perceived risks and difficulties can predict offence noncompletion. Linear and logistic regression models were estimated based on the type of offence (noncompleted sexual offences against women or children). Results: Main findings indicate that victim physical resistance is critical for how sex offenders are perceiving difficulties related to offending against women. The presence of a person nearby and victim resistance are predictive of noncompletion of sexual offences against children. Conclusion: This is a critical line of research because knowledge on the factors and circumstances that can discourage or stop offenders from committing crimes can be used by scholars and practitioners to think of prevention initiatives to reduce opportunities of crime

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure