Research to read, retain and reference.
Convicted sex offenders are subjected to laws, policies and practices designed to control and manage their behavior. These measures include, but are not limited to, involuntary civil commitment or confinement at a specially designated sex offender facility, registration and community notification, mandatory treatment, use of polygraphy, intensive supervision for fifteen years to life, and a myriad of community supervision requirements. While much of the public concern about sexual offenses is properly focused on the plight of the victim of the offense and the safety of the community, there is a sense in which the families of the offenders are secondary victims of the crime. The label “sex offender” encompasses family members and significant others. Family members oftentimes experience the same guilt, stigmatization, and isolation that the sex offenders do. They must deal with their own feelings of shock, anger and betrayal toward the offender and the generalized stigma (and sometimes blame) that others attach to the whole family (not just the offender). Further, if the offender is reunited with his or her family upon the completion of the imprisonment period, then family members are implicated in the public response to public notification that a sex offender is located in the community and the limitations on the movements and interactions that are often placed on the offender after he or she is released from confinement. This paper is a preliminary exploration of the experiences of families of convicted sex offenders and their coping strategies.
--Farkas, Mary Ann. "Secondary Victims: Families of Convicted Sex Offenders" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Royal York, Toronto, Nov 15, 2005
