Title: Chapter 5: Adult Sex Offender Recidivism | Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking
Headings: Chapter 5: Adult Sex Offender Recidivism
Chapter 5: Adult Sex Offender Recidivism
by Roger Przybylski
Findings
Introduction
Issues To Consider
Recidivism Rates Are Not True Reoffense Rates
Recidivism Rate Measurements Vary by Study
Operational Definition of Recidivism
Length of Followup Period
Populations Studied
Methods Used
Recidivism Research Findings
Recidivism Rates: All Sex Offenders
Recidivism Rates: Female and Male Sex Offenders
Recidivism Rates: Different Types of Sex Offenders
Rapists
Child Molesters
Exhibitionists
Summary
Different types of sex offenders have a different propensity to reoffend.
References

Content: For a discussion of adult "Sex Offender Risk Assessment," see Chapter 6 in the Adult section.) Knowledge about general recidivism, in addition to sexual recidivism specifically, is important because many sex offenders engage in both sexual and nonsexual criminal behavior. Research has shown that sex offenders are more likely to recidivate with a nonsexual offense than a sexual offense (see, e.g., Hanson & Bussière, 1998). Studies have also shown that some crimes legally labeled as nonsexual in the criminal histories of sex offenders may indeed be sexual in their underlying behavior (Doren, 2010; Rice et al., 2006; Heil et al., 2009). Rice and colleagues, for example, reported that "Murder and kidnapping are clear examples of apparently nonsexual violent crimes that, when perpetrated by sex offenders, are usually sexually motivated" (2006, p. 526). In addition, a charge or conviction that appears in a criminal history record might not reflect underlying sexual motivation for the crime due to plea bargaining.