what do you thnk?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Unfortunately most child sexual assault victims are attacked by people they know, not by strangers.

Good point. I'm not sure how useful sites like that are - always seems to me that these things play on collective paranoia. As though this phenomenon is not only new, but some sort of national epidemic.

There are other issues too - specifically that a lot is made of the point that these people almost always reoffend. I do wonder though, to what extent demonising and pointing out these people plays into that. Seems to me that the more certain people are branded as deviant and are socially ostracised - the more likely they are to fall into old habits.

[homesick_american 1]

Unfortunately most child sexual assault victims are attacked by people they know, not by strangers.

Good point. I'm not sure how useful sites like that are - always seems to me that these things play on collective paranoia. As though this phenomenon is not only new, but some sort of national epidemic.

There are other issues too - specifically that a lot is made of the point that these people almost always reoffend. I do wonder though, to what extent demonising and pointing out these people plays into that. Seems to me that the more certain people are branded as deviant and are socially ostracised - the more likely they are to fall into old habits.

Well, you're not going to get any sympathy from me for sex offenders who feel ostracized. However bad they feel, their victims feel a million times worse and that's not even an exaggeration.

I think the best solution is to lock pedophiles up forever, but pedophiles are only one class of sex offender. Not all sex offenders are pedophiles, and some of them are a lower risk. Then again, murderers have one of the lowest recidivism rates of all violent criminals but they are given the most severe punishments.

[JoeMama 0]

you know what is really scary is that I noticed that some of the schools in our area have a child offender living within 1000 ft of the school

Yeah, but it's probably always been that way; the difference is a couple of decades ago when we were in primary school, we didn't know. When I was a kid my mom let us roam around the neighborhood, but never by ourselves and we were taught all about stranger danger. Unfortunately most child sexual assault victims are attacked by people they know, not by strangers.

Times have changed from what I remember 25-30 years ago up until now. Back then, where I lived, communities used to keep an eye out for everyone's children. We used to roam freely without the worries of predators, etc. I remember when my friends and I caused trouble, some adult didn't hesitate to say something to us and tell our parents if they knew them. The community stuck together and were always watching out for each other. These days, say something to someone's child when they're doing something wrong, and most parents gets pissed, like "Who the hell are you to say anything to my child?". Communitites aren't so involved like that any more.

As far as perpetrators of sexual assaults, I see reports on the news almost every night that unknown assailants are getting more bold and daring. It's like they don't care who the victim is and if they know them at all. I hope us, as a society, will go back to watching out for each other's children. Our children need a strong community vigilance. Even, if some people don't have children, your watchful eye is appreciated. We need to be on-guard for these sexual offenders and let them know if they try to harm a child, the community will retaliate immediately!

Edited June 1, 2007 by JoeMama

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Unfortunately most child sexual assault victims are attacked by people they know, not by strangers.

Good point. I'm not sure how useful sites like that are - always seems to me that these things play on collective paranoia. As though this phenomenon is not only new, but some sort of national epidemic.

There are other issues too - specifically that a lot is made of the point that these people almost always reoffend. I do wonder though, to what extent demonising and pointing out these people plays into that. Seems to me that the more certain people are branded as deviant and are socially ostracised - the more likely they are to fall into old habits.

you're right as usual, erekose, we should just drop them off in a huge desert with one round and a gun, no food or water.

[Emancipation 2]

Interesting website that ... I found 2 within a block of my house..

One lady I see every morning buying smokes and walks by my bus stop..

The other guys -never seen them before.. Hopefully never will.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Unfortunately most child sexual assault victims are attacked by people they know, not by strangers.

Good point. I'm not sure how useful sites like that are - always seems to me that these things play on collective paranoia. As though this phenomenon is not only new, but some sort of national epidemic.

There are other issues too - specifically that a lot is made of the point that these people almost always reoffend. I do wonder though, to what extent demonising and pointing out these people plays into that. Seems to me that the more certain people are branded as deviant and are socially ostracised - the more likely they are to fall into old habits.

Well, you're not going to get any sympathy from me for sex offenders who feel ostracized. However bad they feel, their victims feel a million times worse and that's not even an exaggeration.

I think the best solution is to lock pedophiles up forever, but pedophiles are only one class of sex offender. Not all sex offenders are pedophiles, and some of them are a lower risk. Then again, murderers have one of the lowest recidivism rates of all violent criminals but they are given the most severe punishments.

Well its not really about sympathy - simply about being realistic. There's a lot of NIMBY-ism that goes on with regards to this issue. As it stands the law doesn't see fit to lock these people up forever (however unjust that might be), so they must live somewhere. These days its just not possible for a person to shut themselves up in a cave or a mountain cabin and live the life of a hermit. Perhaps before we had the internet it was more convenient to believe that society was basically a nice place, and we didn't know all that much about our neighbours or people living in our communities - but it doesn't change the fact that there are bad or disturbed people out there and (as the OP post indicates) occasionally you're going to come into contact with them.

When we were living in SoCal, there was a proposal in our area to build a psychiatric treatment center for those kind of people. It was shot down by the local town council because they want that in the area. Never mind that there were several registered SO's already living in that area - approximately a half-dozen within a 2-mile radius of my wife's parents house.

I'm not too clued up on the psychological / psychiatric makeup of those people, but it seems that as a society we're exacerbating the problem in some respects - by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

Well the “fault" is with the perpetrator naturally. But for that very small minority of registered SO's that we're really talking about - they do what they do because its a psychological compulsion. Perhaps Almaty can answer that better - but it seems to me that someone who has this sort of compulsion isn't going to be put off by social outrage. There's usually a pathological pattern of progression that fits this kind of behaviour. Enablement in that sense comes from making those people accept that they are deviant bad people and have no hope for reform.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

Well the “fault" is with the perpetrator naturally. But for that very small minority of registered SO's that we're really talking about - they do what they do because its a psychological compulsion. Perhaps Almaty can answer that better - but it seems to me that someone who has this sort of compulsion isn't going to be put off by social outrage. There's usually a pathological pattern of progression that fits this kind of behaviour. Enablement in that sense comes from making those people accept that they are deviant bad people and have no hope for reform.

then why not just give them the 9mm sentence to the head? weed out the gene pool, reduce global warming, and resolve the issue of them being in society all at one time

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

Well the “fault" is with the perpetrator naturally. But for that very small minority of registered SO's that we're really talking about - they do what they do because its a psychological compulsion. Perhaps Almaty can answer that better - but it seems to me that someone who has this sort of compulsion isn't going to be put off by social outrage. There's usually a pathological pattern of progression that fits this kind of behaviour. Enablement in that sense comes from making those people accept that they are deviant bad people and have no hope for reform.

then why not just give them the 9mm sentence to the head? weed out the gene pool, reduce global warming, and resolve the issue of them being in society all at one time

Why stop there - why not make every infraction of the law a capital offence

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

Well the “fault" is with the perpetrator naturally. But for that very small minority of registered SO's that we're really talking about - they do what they do because its a psychological compulsion. Perhaps Almaty can answer that better - but it seems to me that someone who has this sort of compulsion isn't going to be put off by social outrage. There's usually a pathological pattern of progression that fits this kind of behaviour. Enablement in that sense comes from making those people accept that they are deviant bad people and have no hope for reform.

then why not just give them the 9mm sentence to the head? weed out the gene pool, reduce global warming, and resolve the issue of them being in society all at one time

Why stop there - why not make every infraction of the law a capital offence

don't be asinine.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

by pointing people out on the street, slapping them with a badge of perpetual shame, and shooting down any possibility of their seeking treatment for their condition - we're collectively enabling them to reoffend.

and who's fault is it they wear that badge of shame? and how many, knowing that this is what will happen to them if they do that, have refrained from such due to that badge of shame? probably more than we know.

no sympathy points from me btw.

Well the “fault" is with the perpetrator naturally. But for that very small minority of registered SO's that we're really talking about - they do what they do because its a psychological compulsion. Perhaps Almaty can answer that better - but it seems to me that someone who has this sort of compulsion isn't going to be put off by social outrage. There's usually a pathological pattern of progression that fits this kind of behaviour. Enablement in that sense comes from making those people accept that they are deviant bad people and have no hope for reform.

then why not just give them the 9mm sentence to the head? weed out the gene pool, reduce global warming, and resolve the issue of them being in society all at one time

Why stop there - why not make every infraction of the law a capital offence

don't be asinine.

Why not - think how fewer traffic violations there would be if cops could let rip with a machine gun at speeding motorists and red-light jumpers.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Why not - think how fewer traffic violations there would be if cops could let rip with a machine gun at speeding motorists and red-light jumpers.

hardly in the same category, erekose

Edited June 1, 2007 by charlesandnessa

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Why not - think how fewer traffic violations there would be if cops could let rip with a machine gun at speeding motorists and red-light jumpers.

hardly in the same category, erekose

Actually I thought you were joking. My earlier argument was about pointing out realities - not indulging homicidal revenge fantasies

Edited June 1, 2007 by erekose

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

Why not - think how fewer traffic violations there would be if cops could let rip with a machine gun at speeding motorists and red-light jumpers.

hardly in the same category, erekose

Actually I thought you were joking.

about what? executing child molesters? no, i was not.