Abstract
BackgroundCross-sectional and retrospective offence data are often used to classify sex offenders in epidemiological and survey research, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the practical implications of this for applied research. This study describes the classification of sex offenders from a cohort of prisoners recruited as part of an Australian inmate health survey and the implications for reporting results.MethodsData-linkage was used to join the New South Wales (NSW) Inmate Health Surveys to the states re-offending database to identify men with histories of sexual offending. Sex offenders were classified into men who sexually offended against children only (ChildSOs), against adults only (AdultSOs), and men who sexually offended against both children and adults (Age-PolySOs).ResultsUsing historical offending data rather than the current offence information only, an additional 35.4% of men with histories of sexual offences were identified. Differences were found between the three sex offender subgroups in terms of demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers. Age-PolySOs reported higher educational attainment, were less likely to report being self-employed, single marital status, and having children. Half the ChildSOs self-reported a mental health issue and half of the ChildSOs and Age-PolySOs reported four or more chronic health conditions. Age-PolySOs were older than the other sex offender groups when committing their first non-sexual, non-violent crime (M = 43.2 years, SD = 13.8); violent crime (M = 39.5 years, SD = 11.1); and sexual crime (M = 47.8 years, SD = 11.2). Age-PolySOs also committed more sexual offences (M = 5.91, SD = 11.2) compared to those who only offended against one victim age group.ConclusionThese findings suggested that historical offending records should be used to more accurately identify sex offender subgroups and that differences in demographic, health, and criminal careers exist for the different sex offender subgroups.
Highlights
Cross-sectional and retrospective offence data are often used to classify sex offenders in epidemiological and survey research, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the practical implications of this for applied research
This study describes the data-linkage process and classification of sex offenders in a cohort of prisoners recruited from three waves of an Australian inmate health survey
This study describes differences in the demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers of three sex offender subgroups (ChildSOs, AdultSOs, and Age-PolySOs)
Summary
Cross-sectional and retrospective offence data are often used to classify sex offenders in epidemiological and survey research, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the practical implications of this for applied research. This study describes the classification of sex offenders from a cohort of prisoners recruited as part of an Australian inmate health survey and the implications for reporting results. The index offence ( referred to as the most serious or cardinal offence) for the current episode of incarceration is commonly used as the basis for classifying offenders into different groups based on offence type. This can be problematic as it focuses on an offence at a single point in time and does consider other crimes which may have been committed in the past, potentially overlooking those with serious historical crimes such as sexual offences. The most serious offence reflects a subjective political view of sentencing and there does not appear to be a standardized or universally accepted hierarchy of offence seriousness
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