ladyarkles
03-27-2005, 07:34 PM
Govt eyes efforts to stop sex offender recidivism
Source:The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Justice Ministry will establish a sex crime treatment committee in April made up of psychiatrists and other specialists in an effort to stop sex offenders from reoffending and to create new corrections programs for those convicted of sex crimes, ministry officials said Saturday.
The ministry has already been reviewing rehabilitation programs used in the nation's prisons, but because of the high rate of recidivism among sex offenders, expert opinions were sought on appropriate countermeasures.
The committee will consist of about 10 experts. One candidate is the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry's Department of Addictive Behavior Research chief Eiichi Senoo, a leading expert on addictive sexual behavior.
In Britain, Germany and the United States, rehabilitation programs for sex offenders include such measures as counseling by psychiatrists, group counseling and medication to suppress male sex drive.
Chemical castration by the use of drugs has been introduced in Sweden, Denmark and seven states in the United States.
The committee will research foreign programs for about six months and decide what kind of programs are most appropriate in Japan.
Pilot programs will be offered at Kawagoe Juvenile Prison in Kawa-goe, Saitama Prefecture, for first offenders aged under 28. The prison has already introduced its own rehabilitation program for sex offenders, and the committee will examine its effectiveness in preventing recidivism by conducting follow-up research after the inmates involved are released.
Programs that prove effective will be introduced gradually after fiscal 2006 at 74 prisons, detention centers, juvenile corrective institutions and private reform and protection facilities such as halfway houses.
Source:The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Justice Ministry will establish a sex crime treatment committee in April made up of psychiatrists and other specialists in an effort to stop sex offenders from reoffending and to create new corrections programs for those convicted of sex crimes, ministry officials said Saturday.
The ministry has already been reviewing rehabilitation programs used in the nation's prisons, but because of the high rate of recidivism among sex offenders, expert opinions were sought on appropriate countermeasures.
The committee will consist of about 10 experts. One candidate is the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry's Department of Addictive Behavior Research chief Eiichi Senoo, a leading expert on addictive sexual behavior.
In Britain, Germany and the United States, rehabilitation programs for sex offenders include such measures as counseling by psychiatrists, group counseling and medication to suppress male sex drive.
Chemical castration by the use of drugs has been introduced in Sweden, Denmark and seven states in the United States.
The committee will research foreign programs for about six months and decide what kind of programs are most appropriate in Japan.
Pilot programs will be offered at Kawagoe Juvenile Prison in Kawa-goe, Saitama Prefecture, for first offenders aged under 28. The prison has already introduced its own rehabilitation program for sex offenders, and the committee will examine its effectiveness in preventing recidivism by conducting follow-up research after the inmates involved are released.
Programs that prove effective will be introduced gradually after fiscal 2006 at 74 prisons, detention centers, juvenile corrective institutions and private reform and protection facilities such as halfway houses.