U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative

Download the Full Report

Initiative Home

Even with the best sources of data, it is extremely difficult to estimate the actual number of sex crimes committed because of low levels of reporting.
Cognitive-behavioral/relapse prevention approaches have been identified as being effective at reducing both sexual and nonsexual recidivism.
The SOMAPI forum participants recommended that jurisdictions should use specialized supervision with a rehabilitation orientation as one component of an overall sex offender management strategy.
Researchers widely agree that observed recidivism rates are underestimates of the true reoffense rates of sex offenders.

Perpetrators of sex crimes are often seen as needing special management practices. As a result, jurisdictions across the country have implemented laws and policies that focus specifically on sex offenders, often with extensive public support. At the same time, the criminal justice community has increasingly recognized that crime control and prevention strategies—including those targeting sex offenders—are far more likely to work when they are based on scientific evidence.

Recognizing the important role scientific evidence plays, the SMART Office developed the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI), a project designed to assess the state of research and practice in sex offender management. Recommendations stemming from SOMAPI informed this report.
 

Full Report

March 2017 / NCJ 247059 - This report was produced by the National Criminal Justice Association under grant number 2010-DB-BX-K086, awarded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the SMART Office or the U.S. Department of Justice.

SOMAPI Webinar Series

The National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) hosts a webinar series based on the SMART Office's SOMAPI report. These webinars are designed to provide policymakers and practitioners with trustworthy, up-to-date information they can use to identify and implement what works to combat sexual offending and prevent sexual victimization.


Learn more: Sex Offender Management Webinars