Protecting Society from Child Sex Offenders: A Proposal for Lowering Recidivism Rates Through an Analysis of the Prevailing Social Policy and

This paper examines the current philosophy and methodology utilized in the United States and Denmark in dealing with child sex offenders and proposes post-release approaches that will re-duce recidivism rates in order to better protect society in the future. After analyzing current clas-sifications of child sex offenders, labeling theory is rejected in favor of a novel classification of offenders based on their victimization. The unreliability of current measures of recidivism rates is explored and proposals are set forth to reconfigure recidivism rates to effectively measure the value of post-release protocols. A study of the current laws and social policy of the U.S. and Den-mark follows along with a critical analysis of post-release sanctions and treatments. I conclude with a proposal for a post-release protocol that should minimize recidivism of child sex offenders and provide the greatest protection to society. An increasing trend in the prevalence of child sex offenders within the past few decades has spawned serious public concern for the safety and welfare of its children. With this rise in sexual offences, there has been much contention ove