Are Sex Offenders Really Different? A Comparison of Criminal Career Dimensions of Sex Offenders and Non-Sex Offenders in Belgium and the Netherlands

• In Event: Sexual Offenders over the Life Course

Abstract

The belief that sex offenders constitute a different kind of offenders continues to exist today. This assumption remains present in public debates and in some sectors of policy-making. One way to assess this public belief and to provide scientific evidence about this issue is to look at the criminal careers of sex offenders as compared to other offenders. In this presentation, the results are presented of a study that addresses this issue. Drawing on national conviction data sets of Belgium and the Netherlands, the study focuses on criminal career dimensions of persons convicted at one point in time for a sex offence as compared to others convicted for another type of offence. Criminal career dimensions that are studied include onset, duration, termination, frequency, versatility and residual career length. Furthermore, the study adds a comparative dimension. The research also assesses whether the criminal career dimensions of sex offenders and non-sex offenders in Belgium differ from those of sex offenders and non-sex offenders in the Netherlands.

Authors

• Martine Blom, WODC

• Luc Robert, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC)

• Arjan A.J. Blokland, NSCR

• Eirc Maes, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology

• Lieven Pauwels, Ghent University