Hi Mike- Just a couple of thoughts to add to Jim's excellent response. The Canadian Correctional Service has, over the years, helped to develop a number of instruments to help parole boards make better decisions. Bob Hare's Psychopathy Checklist (revised) is just one example.
As far as exiling these people to a remote island, well that is a bad idea from a logistical point of view. Islands are actually hard to control as they offer a potentially infinite number of escape routes. I was a prison psychologist for about ten years and I can tell you that dealing with cases like this was the most difficult thing (emotionally) that I have ever done. While we didn't always get it right we all gave it our best effort. -Don. ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Smith <tipsl...@gmail.com> Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:13 am Subject: Re: [tips] So what's broke? To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > Yes there are many variables and there is always an emotional > component (with me at least) with regard to child abuse/homicide. > > I was also asking as an intro psych student might, since the > story is > a current event, and it seems at least that psychology has > failed to > make much headway in providing the tools/understanding that the > criminal justice system might need to do a better job. As "everyone > knows" parole boards routinely let out people that should not be and > that they can't see the obvious that anyone on the street can see. > > Thanks for the links...I knew someone would come through :) > > --Mike > > On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Jim Clark > <j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca> wrote: > > Hi > > > > There are others who post here more capable than I am of > addressing this question, but Michael's (natural) response > appears to be driven by emotion rather than the psychological > literature on sex offenders. A couple of observations: > > > > 1. With respect to the 90 registered offenders who were > interviewed, sex offender tends to be a very broad term, so the > 90 registered offenders needs to be viewed cautiously. One would > also want some idea of the base population within that 5 mile > radius ... 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 or .... > > > > 2. I know nothing about this particular case, but is it in > fact true (as implied perhaps by Michael) that the perpetrator > was a previously released offender? If so, then one would > wonder whether it would have been possible to identify this > person as someone who would re-offend (see #3). If not > previously arrested, then harsh penalties (exile!) would only be > relevant if harsh penalties were known to reduce levels of > offending in others. How well has "3 strikes you're out" worked > in the USA (other than contributing to the bankruptcy of > California, of course)? > > > > 3. As with so many decisions, surely there must be some > balance between (a) keeping incarcerated those who will re- > offend, and (b) not keeping incarcerated those who will not re- > offend. Here are some statistics on recidivism in sex offenders > from Canada Corrections, an organization that is I think well > respected for its research orientation (e.g., to development of > instruments for predicting recidivism). > > > > http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/forum/e082/e082g-eng.shtml > > > > The gist of the statistics are that even after 5 years, a > substantial portion of sex offenders have not re-offended (or > more precisely have not been caught re-offending). > > > > 4. As to what is "broke about modern western society," we need > to be careful about drawing inferences about societies on the > basis of such cases. To get some appreciation of the extent of > such violence, see: > > > > http://www.jimhopper.com/abstats/#unrpt > > > > For example, the report indicates almost 53,000 child > homicides worldwide in 2002. > > > > None of the above denies the validity of Michael's essential > point, that one would hope that more could be done to prevent > these horrific events. > > > > Take care > > Jim > > > > > > James M. Clark > > Professor of Psychology > > 204-786-9757 > > 204-774-4134 Fax > > j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca > > > > Department of Psychology > > University of Winnipeg > > Winnipeg, Manitoba > > R3B 2E9 > > CANADA > > > > > >>>> Michael Smith <tipsl...@gmail.com> 24-Feb-10 2:52 PM >>> > > Having followed the recent heartbreaking news stories about 7 > year old > > Somer Thompson it really makes me wonder what's broke about modern > > western society. > > > > Is it the justice system? As a society we (meaning those in > positions> of authority to change things) don't want to keep > sexual predators > > away from society? > > Is it the psychiatric/psychological assessment process where these > > people are let out again? > > Or is it just that this society is incapable of fixing this problem, > > but we don't want to admit it? > > > > I mean the last news story I read said that the investigators > had just > > finished interviewing the last of the ninety (yes ninety) registered > > sexual predators within a 5 mile radius of the Thompson home. > > > > Is it time to start looking at some uninhabited islands in the > middle> of the ocean where they can be dropped off? > > > > --Mike > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=848> > or send a blank email to > leave-848-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: tipsl...@gmail.com. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fb&n=T&l=tips&o=853> > or send a blank email to > leave-853-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: dap...@shaw.ca. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98f18&n=T&l=tips&o=872or > send a blank email to > leave-872-13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=883 or send a blank email to leave-883-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
