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20 Fed. Sent. R. 88 (2007-2008)
Reentry and Reintegration: Challenges Faced by the Families of Convicted Sex Offenders

handle is hein.journals/fedsen20 and id is 92 raw text is: Reentry and Reintegration: Challenges Faced by the Families of Convicted Sex Offenders 40 MARY ANN FARKAS Associate Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University GALE MILLER Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University Prisoner reentry initiatives have proliferated in response to the enormous increase in the use of incarceration in the past few decades. Approximately six hundred thousand of these inmates will return to communities across the coun- try each year.' Releasing large numbers of offenders back into society raises questions about public safety, whether these offenders can be adequately supervised, and whether communities can absorb and reintegrate the returning offenders.2 The pre- and postrelease of sex offenders has perhaps raised the most concern, prompting the enact- ment of a flurry of legislative and social control mechanisms. Under the federal Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Violent Offender Registration Act passed in 1994,3 states are required to establish sex offender registries or risk losing io percent of their federal funding for law enforcement. In 1996, the Pam Lynchner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act estab- lished a national database of sex offenders.4 Many states have also assembled risk assessment review committees, created by state law, to assess the risk sex offenders pose at the time of their release from prison. Sex offender community notification, mandated by law in all states, presents another hurdle. The sex offender's specific risk classification results in a variety of notifica- tion responses from law enforcement including containing the sex offender's information within the police department; targeting relevant groups for notifica- tion, such as schools and neighborhood organizations; and expanded notification, which may involve door-to-door notification, specific media releases, Internet postings, and community meetings. Some jurisdictions place all released sex offenders on an Internet site or publish all of their names in the newspaper.5 As of 2005, fourteen states had passed residency laws prohibiting sex offenders from living within close proximity (typically within 1,ooo to 2,000 feet) of a school, park, day care center, or school bus stop.6 The reentry and reintegration of convicted sex offenders must be accomplished against this backdrop of legal restrictions and sex offender-specific correctional policies and procedures. Although a wide variety of formal social control mecha- nisms have been implemented for sex offenders, informal networks-most importantly the families of convicted sex offenders-have not received the same attention. State and federal reentry initiatives have been instituted for ex- prisoners, but very few programs and services are devoted to the needs or concerns of their families. Resources for convicted sex offenders and their families, in particular, are noticeably lacking. These families and their offending members confront unique obstacles to reentry, including publicity concerning the sex offender's release (media and/or other forms of public notification) and stigmatiza- tion due to the nature of the sex offense. A rationale for developing services and programs for such families is that a significant number of the reentry challenges are shoul- dered by family members.7 Families ease the heightened stress and anxiety of prison releasees during the transition back into society. Relatives can also help with the practical concerns of reentry, including housing, employment, and finances. Moreover, from a public safety perspective, family sup- port and encouragement may also decrease the possibility of reoffending. Creasie Hairston contends that the mainte- nance of family relationships during imprisonment preserves the stability of the family unit, enhances the well-being of family members, and facilitates the pris- oner's postrelease success.8 Many studies have found a correlation between the maintenance of family ties and a lower recidivism rate for those released from prison.9 Our article will focus on the adult family members of convicted sex offenders and the many challenges they face in reuniting with their loved ones post-incarceration. We will explore the general knowledge on families of prison- ers and incorporate preliminary findings from our ongoing research on the experiences and needs of families of convicted adult, male sex offenders. Very little research has explored the experience of these families, who arguably suffer the effects of incarceration, release, and reentry more acutely, more shamefully, and certainly in a more public fashion than the families of other offenders. To date, we have conducted seventy-two interviews with members of twenty-eight families in Col- orado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Subjects, who include spouses/intimate others, adult chil- dren, parents, grandparents, and siblings, have been interviewed for roughly six hours (over the course of two Federal Sentencing Reporter, Vol. 2o, No. 2, pp. 88-92, ISSN 1053-9867 electronic ISSN 1533-8363 ©o07 Vera Institute of Justice. All rights reserved. Please direct requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintlnfo.asp. DOI: fsr.2oo.2O.2.88. FEDERAL SENTENCING REPORTER - VOL. 20, NO. 2 DECEMBER 2007

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