Community reintegration of sex offenders of children in new zealand

A Qualitative Systematic Review of the Barriers and Facilitators of the Reintegration of Men Convicted of a Sexual Offense From Prison or Secure Care into the Community

This article is the first qualitative systematic review of studies examining the barriers and facilitators to male sex offenders reintegration from prison or secure care into the community. A search of 16 electronic databases produced 14,218 potential sources, which, after screening, resulted in 79 articles for inclusion. Papers were included if they used qualitative research methods about the barriers, facilitators, perceptions, experiences, and attitudes toward community reintegration from prison or secure care for men convicted of sexual offenses. Included papers were critically appraised and the findings were thematically synthesized. The findings identified that formal and cultural aspects of reintegration, such as probation services, stigmatization, and registration, were the three largest barriers that men faced upon their release, with stability aspects, such as positive relationships, religion, and support groups, being key facilitators to their successful reintegration. The implications for future research, and policy and practice, including prioritizing risk assessment and management, offering appropriate and timely treatment and rehabilitation, educating the community, better access to housing and employment, and services adopting a collaborative approach, are discussed.

Factors Associated With Impeding the Reintegration of Incest Survivors: A Qualitative Study in Selected Safe Homes in Nepal

BACKGROUND

Incest is a globally prevalent phenomenon and is defined as sexual relations between closely related family members. Despite being a criminal offense irrespective to the gender and age incest is a prevalent issue in Nepal. Incest survivors are sheltered in safe homes for specific periods and reintegrated into their families following their healing. This research aims to explore the challenges and issues involved in the reintegration of incest survivors and investigate how the interconnected perceptions of families and individuals relate to the incest survivors' successful reintegration.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted in three districts of Nepal. Fourteen incest survivors, five service providers from safe homes, and 22 community members were purposefully and theoretically selected. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to collect the study data, which were subsequently coded and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

RESULTS

The results indicate the importance of the reintegration of incest survivors, as staying in a safe home may not offer a long-term solution for these individuals. However, reintegration is challenging without acceptance and support from the survivors' families and communities, the survivors' readiness to reintegrate, and agreement from the survivors' safe homes. Factors found to influence the unsuccessful reintegration of survivors included family fragmentation, socio-economic status, family resistance, the survivor-perpetrator relationship, survivors' interests, fears, and the possibility of repeated incidents, harmful social norms and cultural practices, community intervention, and negative perceptions.

CONCLUSION

This study found that factors associated with impeding the reintegration of incest survivors are found in survivors, their families, and their communities. Creating harmonious family systems, providing education on gender equality, empowering women to fight against all sorts of abuse, and governmental assurances on the implementation of legal aid, human rights, ratified conventions on child rights and women's rights may help prevention of incest, and address the reintegration challenges of incest victims.

Factors associated with successful reintegration for male offenders: a systematic narrative review with implicit causal model

Objectives

This systematic review explored factors associated with successful reintegration into the community for male offenders and investigated which factors may be causally related to reintegration.

Methods

Database searches were conducted in November 2021; a narrative synthesis and associated causal model with directed acyclic graph (DAG) was used to analyse the factors of reintegration.

Results

Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Risk-Need-Responsivity-based interventions had the strongest evidence for reducing post-release offending. Fourteen good-quality studies met the inclusion criteria. The DAG shows six exposure variables (prison visits, witnessing victimisation, recovery perception, risk assessment, in-prison treatment, and pre-prison health) which link to several post-release outcomes (criminal justice outcomes, drug use, mental health, housing, and reintegration barriers) and confounding variables (demographics, offending history, prior reintegration barriers, substance misuse and attitudes).

Conclusions

The review identified factors that may be causally related to reintegration for male offenders and warrant further empirical investigation.

Caring for a Man Who Sexually Abused Children

Child sex abuse is a serious health concern, involving considerable pain, suffering, and hurt for victims and their families, as well as generating public interest and scrutiny. Such abuse damages, weakens, but perhaps surprisingly does not necessarily sever all family ties. In this article, people from familial networks within which child sexual abuse has occurred recount their experiences of extending compassion and support to a man who has sexually abused children. Crucially, the supporters acknowledge the gravity of child sex abuse and their stories emphasize the need to ensure the safety of the victims of abuse and other children. Our participants attempt to balance the needs of the victims with a continued commitment to supporting offenders so that they are less likely to reoffend. We document how in maintaining ties with an offender, supporters in fact take on elements of an offender’s stigma, and also become tainted. Support narratives offer insights into how society might develop more holistic understandings of the consequences of child sex abuse and ultimately help us understand offenders and the efforts of those around them to provide integrated rehabilitation and to minimize the risk of reoffending.