Florida's Civil Commitment Center

What Are We Do Do with Sexual Predators?

Topic
The effectiveness of the civil commitment center for sexually violent offenders n Florida and some of the issues pertaining to the treatment facility.

Introduction
Americans have a prominent fear of crime, especially sexual offenders. Sex offenders are known to have multiple victims and higher rates of recidivism rates (Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment, TCSOT, 2003, Hanson, 2002, Becker, et. al., 2003, Phillips, 2003). As a result of recent high profile cases and America's renewed fear of sex offenders the legislature has created new laws to address this public concern. These new laws allow sexual offenders to be involuntarily committed to a civil commitment program or civil commitment center for treatment, if a judge or jury feels that the offender poses a further threat to society or public safety (Logan, 1999). All states have had legislation in place to deal with repeat offenders; only a select few have decided to take this to the next level by creating civil commitment centers or programs to further monitor the sex offender (Logan, 1999).