Robin J. Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Robin J. Wilson in 2012 | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | B.Sc. (1988), M.Ed. (1991), PhD (1996) |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupation | Psychologist |
| Website | http://www.robinjwilson.com/about.shtml |
Robin J. Wilson is a Canadian psychologist, specializing in work on sex offenders.
Wilson received his B.Sc. from Victoria College of the University of Toronto (1988) and his M.Ed. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (1991, 1996). [1] He served as chief psychologist for the Community of the Ontario Region, at the Keele Centre in Toronto [2] and has worked with persons who have sexually offended for over 35 years. [3]
Wilson is one of the pioneers of Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), [4] He was president of the Florida Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and is on the board of directors of the national Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. He is an assistant clinical professor [adjunct], Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) and was a professor of forensic practice at the Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning (Toronto, Ontario). [1] He was editor of the ATSA Forum and the SAJRT Blogspot, the official blog of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment . [5] He serves on the editorial boards of the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice , the Journal of Sexual Aggression , and Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment .
Wilson was one of the developers and remains associated with the Circles of Support and Accountability, [4] a method of treating sex offenders that has been associated with a 70% drop in rates of reoffending, [6] and is now being adopted in jurisdictions throughout the world. [7]
Wilson is a vocal critic of American sex offender registry policies. He opined that sex offender registries are more public relations tools than crime-fighting tools and that resources would be better spent on prevention and treatment. [8] Moreover, he said that by public policies becoming increasingly punitive, families may become less likely to report cases of sexual abuse occurring within families. [9] During discussions of changes to Canadian models of sex offender treatment, Wilson told the National Post that Canada had been the envy of the world in its methods for 15–20 years and that the U.S. should consider using the Canadian models instead of Canada attempting to use U.S. models. [6]
In 2003, Wilson told CBC News that approximately 15% of sex offenders repeat their crimes, [2] rather than having very high rates of recidivism. He similarly challenges the exaggerated fear of strangers as the most likely perpetrators of sex offences. "The stats are really, really clear ... If you are going to be offended by anyone, it will be by someone you know, most likely in your own home." [8]
During the fall-out of the Jerry Sandusky case, Wilson noted that there can be subtle clues that a person is a pedophile, such as having little interest in sex with their wives, [3] such as Sandusky's wife reported.
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims. In doing so, practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their actions, to understand the harm they have caused, to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves, and to discourage them from causing further harm. For victims, the goal is to give them an active role in the process, and to reduce feelings of anxiety and powerlessness.
Megan's Law is the name for a federal law in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created in response to the murder of Megan Kanka. Federal Megan's Law was enacted as a subsection of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994, which merely required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement. Since only a few states required registration prior to Megan's death, the state-level legislation to bring states in compliance—with both the registration requirement of Jacob Wetterling Act and community notification required by federal Megan's Law—were crafted simultaneously and are often referred to as "Megan's Laws" of individual states. Thus, the federal Megan's Law refers to community notification, whereas state-level "Megan's Law" may refer to both sex offender registration and community notification.
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. The term delinquent usually refers to juvenile delinquency, and is also generalised to refer to a young person who behaves an unacceptable way.
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a sexual nature; however, some sex offenders have simply violated a law contained in a sexual category. Some of the serious crimes which usually result in a mandatory sex-offender classification are sexual assault, statutory rape, bestiality, child sexual abuse, incest, rape, and sexual imposition.
Boot camps are part of the correctional and penal system of some countries. Modeled after military recruit training camps, these programs are based on shock incarceration grounded on military techniques. The aggressive training used has resulted in deaths in a variety of circumstances. Boot camps are also criticized around the world for their lack of behavioral change and for the way extreme force can traumatize children and teenagers.
Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, psychiatric diagnostic criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. People with the disorder are often referred to as pedophiles.
Howard J. Zehr is an American criminologist. Zehr is considered to be a pioneer of the modern concept of restorative justice.
Restorative practices is a social science that studies how to improve and repair relationships between people and communities. The purpose is to build healthy communities, increase social capital, decrease crime and antisocial behavior, repair harm and restore relationships. It ties together research in a variety of social science fields, including education, psychology, social work, criminology, sociology, organizational development and leadership. Restorative practices are a tool that have been growing in popularity since the early 2000s, but researchers still struggle to define restorative practices as a whole.
A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. Sex offender registration is usually accompanied by residential address notification requirements. In many jurisdictions, registered sex offenders are subject to additional restrictions, including on housing. Those on parole or probation may be subject to restrictions that do not apply to other parolees or probationers. These may include restrictions on being in the presence of underage persons, living in proximity to a school or day care center, owning toys or items targeted towards children, or using the Internet. Sex offender registries exist in many English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. The United States is the only country that allows public access to the sex offender registry; all other countries in the English-speaking world have sex offender registries only accessible by law enforcement.
A range of research has been conducted examining the link between viewing child pornography and perpetration of child sexual abuse, and much disagreement persists regarding whether a causal connection has been established. Perspectives fall into one of three positions:
Child pornography is erotic material that depicts persons under the age of 18. The precise characteristics of what constitutes child pornography varies by criminal jurisdiction.
Ronald Lindsay André "Ron" Langevin is a Canadian forensic psychologist at the University of Toronto. He is the founding editor of Annals of Sex Research, now titled Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment.
Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) are groups of volunteers with professional supervision to support sex offenders as they reintegrate into society after their release from incarceration. Evaluations of CoSA indicate that participation in a CoSA can result in statistically significant reductions in repeat sexual offenses in 70% of cases, relative to what would be predicted by risk assessment or matched comparison subjects. CoSA projects exist throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and some regions of the United States.
Michael Chikong Seto is a Canadian forensic psychologist, sexologist, and author. He is director of Forensic Rehabilitation Research at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, where his research focuses on pedophilia, sexual offenses committed against children, child pornography, risk assessment, offenders with mental disorders, psychopathy, and program evaluation.
Vernon Lewis Quinsey is a Canadian psychologist. He has studied violent crime offenders, sex offenders, sexually violent predators, juvenile delinquency, and ways to predict, assess, and manage individuals with these tendencies. He testified in court that a rapist, Allen Edward Bullock, was "erotically attracted to that kind of behavior".
Gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system represents an emerging trend in communities and courts throughout the United States, Australia and Latin America, as an increasing number of girls are entering the juvenile justice system. A gender responsive approach within the juvenile justice system emphasizes considering the unique circumstances and needs of females when designing juvenile justice system structures, policies, and procedures.
Sex offender registries in the United States exist at both the federal and state levels. The federal registry is known as the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and integrates data in all state, territorial and tribal registries provided by offenders required to register. Registries contain information about persons convicted of sexual offenses for law enforcement and public notification purposes. All 50 states and the District of Columbia maintain sex offender registries that are open to the public via websites; most information on offenders is visible to the public. Public disclosure of offender information varies between the states depending on offenders' designated tier, which may also vary from state to state, or risk assessment result. According to NCMEC, as of 2016 there were 859,500 registered sex offenders in United States.
Sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws in the United States are widely accepted, with supporters believing that disclosing the location of sex offenders residence improves the public's ability to guard themselves and their children from sexual victimization. Despite this wide public acceptance, empirical observations do not uniformly support this belief.
The article covers child sexual abuse in Canada, a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses engages in sexual act(s) with a child.
The Safer Living Foundation (SLF) is a British charity focused on reducing sexual offending and reoffending through rehabilitative and preventative initiatives. It operates in Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.