Sex offenders clustering in poor neighborhoods (thanks to Chuck Kuffner)
No, it's not Chuck's fault that sex offenders are clustering in poor neighborhoods, but he does shine a light on a topic that doesn't get as much attention as it should.
No one wants a sex offender living in their neighborhood, particularly if they have children. That is an understandable concern, but where does a sex offender go when he has paid his debt to society? When affluent neigborhoods cry "NIMBY", where do you think a person heads? Yep, to the poorer neighborhoods, where people have neither the clout nor the money to force them to move on. The end result, of course, is that released sex offenders end up in virtual colonies, hoping for nothing more than the opportunity to live anonymously.
"You have no idea how tough it is after you're convicted of a sex offense," said the 34-year-old, who was convicted of possession of child pornography. "I got probation, but having my name on that list is like a life sentence."
The parolee said it isn't surprising child sex offenders end up in clusters: "You hear about places at therapy, at group, from other guys, because they're all having the same problems."
Although studies proliferate on recidivism among sex offenders and how it is affected by treatment, notification laws and other factors, no research could be found on whether living in proximity to other sex offenders affected them negatively, or at all.
"It bodes no good," said Sharon Burns, a registered sex offender treatment provider and licensed counselor with Burns & Crismon Institute for Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Paraphilias.
"It flies in the face of everything I teach," Burns said. "What I teach ... is independence.
"If you wanted to be drug-free, would you go live in a house where six or seven other drug users lived?" Burns asked. "They need to make some other kinds of friends."
I am the last person you will find defending sex offenders. Still, if you've paid your debt to society, should you not be allowed the opportunity to prove that you are reformed without having to live the rest of your life as Hester Prynne? Or is it easier for us to simply write people off and condemn them to live out their lives as second-class citizens? Surely we can do better.
