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4 Crim. Just. J. 31 (1980-1981)
Report of a Five-Year Follow-Up Study of Mentally Disordered Sex Offenders Released from Atascadero State Hospital in 1973

handle is hein.journals/tjeflr4 and id is 39 raw text is: REPORT OF A FIVE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY
OF MENTALLY DISORDERED SEX
OFFENDERS RELEASED FROM
ATASCADERO STATE HOSPITAL
IN 1973
By
Vikki Henlie Sturgeon* and John Taylor#
I. INTRODUCTION§-
Atascadero State Hospital houses approximately 400 men-
tally disordered sex offenders (MDSOs). After a period of treat-
ment, MDSOs are released back into the community at the rate of
100 to 200 individuals per year. Since the founding of the hospital
in 1954, very little systematic research has been done to examine
what happens to these sexual offenders once they leave the hospi-
tal.1 In this survey, data are reported on 260 MDSOs who were
released from Atascadero in 1973. Their behavior for the ensuing
five years has been analyzed to provide basic descriptive data as to
the general and demographic characteristics of the patients; lim-
ited data on their victims; characteristics of the offenders' hospital
* B.A., University of California at Berkeley; M.S., California State University at
Hayward; Researcher, Hospital Improvement Project Grant, Atascadero State Hospi-
tal.
t B.S. and M.S.W., Michigan State University; Assistant Program Director for
Admissions and Community Placement, Atascadero State Hospital.
t The authors gratefully acknowledge the editorial assistance of Anton Gerschler
and Kerry Hoxie, candidates for J.D., Western State University College of Law (San
Diego), 1980. The authors wish to express special appreciation to Alice D. Gerschler
for her artwork and preparation of the graphs for this article.
§ The findings, opinions, or conclusions stated in this article are those of the
authors and are not to be construed as official or as necessarily reflecting the policy of
the Department of Mental Health of the State of California.
#  This research was supported by NIMH Hospital Improvement Project Grant
#09-R-000002-09-0 awarded to Atascadero State Hospital. The following persons
offered significant help in completing this research: Robert Goldman, Melvin
Hunter, Diane Corenman Serber and D.R. Webster.
I. See L. FRISBIE and E. H. DONDIS, RECIDIVISM AMONG SEX OFFENDERS, State
of California Mental Health Monograph #5, 1965, and L. FRISBIE, ANOTHER LOOK
AT SEX OFFENDERS IN CALIFORNIA, California Mental Health Monograph #12.
Both studies are concerned primarily with pedophiles. See also, Dix, Dierential
Processing of-bnorral Sex Offenders: Utilization of Cal!ornia's Mentally Disordered
Sex Offender Program. 67 J. CRIM. L. 233 (1976).

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