Electronic Monitoring: Technology and Managing Offenders 243Suggestions for Future Research
In recent years, an abundance of psychological literature has addressed the issue of
treatment efficacy for sex offenders. However, the fields of law and criminology
have scarcely produced any research on this topic. Perhaps this is because profes-
sionals in the mental health arena are those who most often provide the treatment.
However, it is essential for individuals working within the mental health and the
criminal justice systems to find common ground on the issue if the goal of reducing
victimization is to be actively pursued. As noted by Alexander (1997), when agen-
cies become convinced that a cause is worthwhile and urgent, the money will be
appropriately allotted. Therefore, it is necessary that research be conducted address-
ing the reluctance by legislatures to implement treatment programs for sex offenders.
Perhaps there is a lack of communication between the respective disciplines, and,
thus, research would do well to target educating the public, the legislature, and the
prison system on the efficacy of sex-offender treatment.
The current literature on the topic of sex-offender treatment is lacking in cer-
tain areas as well. The ineffectiveness of treatment with particular groups of sex
offenders clouds public perception on the overall effectiveness of treatment. For
this reason, research is sorely needed that addresses those sex offenders who do
not respond well to existing treatment modalities. Specifically, limited studies assess
how best to treat rapists, exhibitionists, and homosexual pedophiles. As suggested
by Alexander (1997), research needs to focus on the heterogeneity of sex offenders
in order to present a more accurate picture of what type of treatment works best for
whom.
Electronic Monitoring: Technology and Managing Offenders
Introduction
The public fear of having criminals in our midst has caused a wave of sophisticated
techniques to be developed for tracking and monitoring offenders in community
corrections programs. Electronic monitoring programs are in a fairly early stage of
development. Therefore, there are many questions, the answers to which are yet to
be determined. A common inaccurate assumption is that since electronic monitors
are a technological advance, they must be an improvement over existing surveillance
methods and, thus, the ultimate solution. However, overall equipment effectiveness
and limitations have not been clearly defined. As a result, it is not surprising that there
is psychological stress related to the public because of emerging misinterpretations,
misunderstandings, and misconceptions about electronic monitors. The unknown
factors about electronic monitors contribute to the public's psychological uneasiness
stemming from perceived safety concerns.