Criminology

Sex crime is increasing at an alarming rate. Due to this increase, different States and countries have enacted laws that govern human sexual behavior which individuals need to observe. Those who break these laws are referred to as the sex offenders and are held liable for prosecution. These laws vary from place to place and they prohibit sexual abuse and practices that the government considers to be against the society norms (Henton, 2010). They are intended to protect the community from further harm by the sex crime offenders.

It is important to study crime and criminal justice because many of the aspects of these crimes can be a predictor of future crime and can also be used to find the causes of sexual crimes that were handled in the past. The study of crime and criminal justice is also crucial for social security purposes such that it becomes easier for States to detect the offenders and their details in a bid to monitor the behavior patterns and also ensures that those affected by the victims behavior find justice and compensation. Examples of sexual crimes and assaults are rape, obscenity, human trafficking, frotteurism, and incest.

There are variations among States that are evident when it comes to laws governing sex crimes. In this case, we will be looking at the differences between jurisdictions in terms of parole laws and the rate of recidivism for sex offenders in the U.K. and in the U.S.

In the United States, the sex crime convicts were sentenced to a term of incarceration which was followed by a period of supervised release where the convicts were allowed to join the community but were subject to continued monitoring. They were also expected to comply with certain terms and conditions while in the society (Henton, 2010). However, with time, criminal justice experts realized that there was a high rate of recidivism among the sexual offenders unlike the other law offenders. This was detected as a trend among the sexual abuse victims. The authorities took action to investigate sexual crime victims and their behavior trends. It was concluded that incarceration of convicts followed by parole was not enough to either protect the community at large or to rehabilitate the victims. This led to alteration of the laws governing jurisdiction of sexual crimes that are currently used.

One of the alterations was the need for the sexual offenders to register with the local law authorities every time they move from one region to another within the first seventy two hours. Those who fail to register with the authorities are considered to have committed a unique crime and this leads to prosecution. Another modification was done in federal legislation which has resulted to significant change in the United States Department of Justice by developing and maintaining the States register database for sex offenders. This database consists of the names and identification details of the sex predators including their photos. This information is made available to the public such that those interested can access the database on the internet. The convicts movements and residence were also altered such that certain limitations introduced. The sexual crime convicts are restricted from walking or living in areas around a school or park in a bid to control the victims from coming into contact with children. Institutionalization was also introduced for the violent offenders so as to keep them away from the society. This ensures that the victims are confined indefinitely in a mental organization for rehabilitation.

In the United Kingdom, the sex offenders are jailed for an indeterminate period. Indeterminate sentencing is where the victims are deterred and confined from the society for as long as the legislative body considers the punishment to be necessary regardless of the offenders circumstances. In the United Kingdom, there is no sex offender registry database system (Mott, 2009). Therefore, details about sex abusers can not be obtained by the public on the internet as done in the United States of America. Instead, the U.K. makes use of software that is only entitled to the sexual abuse authorities and the national prison agencies in the U.K. (Mc Dowell, 2006). The public and private prison agencies do not have access to this database. Therefore the database is strictly for the legally allowed bodies as stated by the law but not the public.

Conclusion
It is important respect human dignity and to observe moral laws and ethical behavior in the society necessitating the need for States and other communities to observe sexual morality for the common good of the citizens. These are sexual norms consisting of social rules that vary widely depending on the prevalent culture and are intended to protect communities including children.

When researching sexual crime, it is important to investigate the following elements regarding sexuality why individuals commit violent sexual assaults and why they have chosen to engage in a wide range of inappropriate and criminal sexual behaviors, the likelihood of subsequent sex crime among sexual convicts, the circumstances that lead to high rate of recidivism in sexual crime and the recidivism patterns or trends among the offenders, the measures that can be taken to ensure effective rehabilitation of the sexual crime offenders, challenges involved in rehabilitating the sexual abusers and those affected, whether subsequent incarceration of sexual offenders is necessary for victims on parole, the risk posed to the community by the victims and how it affects the society, the societys view on the laws governing sexual behavior, whether the government is playing an effective role in controlling sexual crime, and to examine and evaluate the registry criteria of the sexual offenders to determine its effectiveness and if further improvements and modifications can be done to the current system. These questions are crucial for sexual crime research as they will help in collecting information that is necessary for ensuring social security, effectiveness in managing offenders for the involved institutions, and for helping the authorities to identify social rules that will help heighten social security so as to protect the citizens.