When a sex offender is released to the community following a long period of time incarcerated, transitioning to independent life presents numerous barriers to their reintegration. . (Wormith, Althouse, Simpson, Reitzel, Fagan, & Morgan, 2007) Annually the net increase in sex offenders in the population from prison releases is approximately 10 to 20 thousand. The recidivism rate of this population is approximately 43% in the 5 years following release. (Langan et al..2003) Of these individuals, about 3% of them return to prison based on new sex offences. 71% of them fail to meet the terms of their release, and 23.9% return to prison for other crimes, which are not sex related.

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It is necessary to ensure effective reintegration to alleviate burdens on the social services and public health systems. (Bruker, 2006) The role of the parole system, however has not been adequately researched and the issue of reentry of the sex offender has not been given adequate attention.(Petersilla, 2000) This is in spite of the plethora of evidence of its importance.

Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study is to identify critical factors related to the perception of sex perception of their contribution to their successful reintegration into society, in the face of complicated barriers. It is also a goal to establish an accurate narrative of the experiences of the re-entering sex offender.(Petersilia, 2003) From this treatment, supervision and policy decisions can be effectively changed to create better reintegration outcomes for future released sex offenders.

Study Importance
When compared to the research dedicated to sex offender treatment and recidivism risks, reintegration research is lacking by far. (Griffiths, Dandurand, Murdoch, 2007) According to Nicholls, Greaves, de Ruiter, Brink, and Viljoen, (2011) there are no investigations regarding the reintegration of sex offenders into the general population. This study is proposed to fill in the gaps in research when related to their successful release into the community to improve planning of this process.

Research Method Proposed
The study proposed to attempt to capture a subjective view of the real life experiences of the sex offender who is being released into the community. The information will be gathered through interviews with the sex offenders, their parole officers, and family members. This information will be categorized based on the commonality of responses. When the kinds of responses are quantified they can be compared from one subject to another and to the expectations of those involved in the process.

The proposed study population will comprise of male sex offenders who are to be released to the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency in Washington, DC. Information from the involved parties will the length of parole, criminal justice system reentry rates along with the amount of time the released individual remains outside of the prison system.

The study will focus primarily on the expectations of the sex offender and parole officers for release and compare it to actual outcomes. It will also gather information as to what each party believes will increase the effectiveness of the system in order to create future studies that may implement actual strategies based upon findings.
 

    References
  • Bumby, K. M., Talbot, T. B., & Carter, M. M. (in press). Sex offender reentry: Facilitating public safety through successful transition and community reintegration. Criminal Justice and Behavior.
  • Brucker, D. (2006) Re-entry to recovery: A promising return-to-work approach for certain offenders with mental illness. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 17 (3) 302-313.
  • Center for Sex Offender Management (2007). Managing the challenges of sex offender registry. Silver Spring, MD. Author.
  • Griffiths, C. T., Dandurand, Y., Murdoch, D., (2007). The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention. The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR). Retrieved on July 1, 2013 from http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/soc-reint-eng.aspx
  • Harrison, P. M., & Beck, A. J. (2006). Prison and jail inmates at midyear 2005. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
  • Langan, P. A., Schmitt, E. L., & Durose, M. R. (2003). Recidivism of sex offenders released from prison in 1994. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
  • Levenson, J. S., Zgoba, K., & Tewksbury, R. (2007). Sex offender residence restrictions: Sensible crime policy or flawed logic? Federal Probation, 71(3), 2-9.
  • Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Practical research: Planning and design (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
  • Loving, R., Singer, J. K., Maguire, M. (2008). Homeless Among Registered Sex Offenders in California: The Numbers, the Risks and the Response. Retrieved July 1, 2013 from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/Sex_Offender_Facts/docs_SOMB/Housing_2008_Rev.pdf
  • Nicholls, T., Greaves, C., de Ruiter, C., Brink, J., Viljoen, S. (2011). Resilience and Successful Community Reintegration among Female Forensic Psychiatric Patients: A Preliminary Investigation. Behavioral Sciences and the Law Behavioral Science Law. 29:752 – 770. Published online 27 July 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/bsl.1001
  • Petersilia, J. (2002). When Prisoners Return to the Community: Political, Economic, and Social Consequences. Sentencing and Corrections. Issues for the 21st Century. Papers From the Executive Sessions on Sentencing and Corrections (9). Retrieved on September13, 2013 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/184253.pdf.
  • West, H. C. (2010) Prisoners at yearend 2009 – Advanced counts. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved on May 31, 2013 from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2272.
  • Wormith, J. S., Althouse, R., Simpson, M., Reitzel, L. R., Morgan, R. D. (2007). The rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders: The Current Landscape and Some Future Directions for Correctional Psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 34:879-892.