Alaska Justice Forum: University of Alaska Achorage.
sexoffenderstudies.blogspot.com : Recidivism of Alaska Sex Offenders.
A recent study of sexual offenders released from incarceration in Alaska shows that for the three years after the offenders left prison in 2001, the rates of recidivism for sexual offenders were, by most measures, no higher than for offenders in general. The study, which was done by the Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center, a subdivision of the Justice Center, compared recidivism for sexual offenders released from prison in 2001 with a random sample of non-sex offenders also released in 2001. The analysis used the three measures most commonly used to determine recidivism: incidents of remand to custody, rearrest, and re-conviction on any new offense. The results are similar to those found in an earlier study done by the Alaska Judicial Council. (See Alaska Felony Process: 1999, Alaska Judicial Council, 2004.)
In the case of rearrest for a new sex offense, there was a slight but statistically insignificant difference between the sex offender group—3.4 percent—and the non-sex offender group—1.3 percent.
This finding figure is similar to that of other studies posted on this blog (e.g. California Department of Corrections study and others). Once again, these studies debunk the myth of sex offenders having high rates or recidivism. The fact is that sex offenders actually have lower recidivism rates for sex-related crimes than non-sex offenders have for any crimes. For methodology and charts, see links above for full study text. Also see our "Truth over Myth" post on this blog.
