Desistance From Sexual Offending

This article reviews the growing body of knowledge on desistance from sexual offending. Although the cessation of offending is a standard observation in criminology and has been demonstrated by people who commit all manner of crimes, it has only recently been considered relevant for individuals convicted of sexual offences.

Desistance from crime is a natural human process and has been observed even among those people who commit sexual offences. The clearest distinction between sexual and nonsexual offenders is the way they are treated by the criminal justice system. Desistance can occur in different ways, for different people, and under different circumstances. It can occur naturally, with or without formal therapeutic assistance or criminal justice intervention. Comparatively few sexual offenders truly warrant the restrictive approaches of enhanced community supervision to which so many people are now subject. A growth industry devoted to sustaining the belief that there is something very different (and identifiable) about sexual offenders has resulted in increasingly dangerous trends in our criminal justice system's response to this crime.