This project was conceived at the Psychiatric Security Unit of Oregon State Hospital in 1968-69. The purpose of the study-was to develop a fund of knowledge concerning the Oregon "sexually dangerous" and to emphasize those elements of the subject which require more sophisticated research. It was undertaken with the hope that the information provided would prove of value to the professional and layman in their understanding of sexual offenses against children. The study plan, designed around an investigation of sexual offender characteristics, was submitted to the administrator of Oregon State Hospital, and permission was granted to examine clinical histories of the 81 sexual offenders who had been committed under Oregon Sexual Psychopath Statutes from September 1963, to May 1969. The study design was exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory elements were reflected in the effort to increase the student's familiarity with the subject of child molestation. Description was directed toward a presentation of data in succinct form which would be suitable to later refinement. A schedule of items was developed which included three main areas of inquiry: characteristics of (1) the offender, (2) the victim, (3) the offense. Appropriate sub-items rounded out the instrument. No explicit hypotheses were posed; however, two underlying guiding hypotheses were implicit: (1) Oregon offenders would be similar to other sexual offenders; (2) the traditional view of sexual offenders is unsupported by scientific investigation. Data was compiled over a three - month period and statistics were recorded in tabular form. A breakdown of offender types was employed for clarity. Findings related to the offender indicated a bi-modal distribution of age with the greatest number in the 20 - 29 age class interval and a rather high percentage over 50. All were white males and as many were married as were single. Their educational level was slightly lower than the general population and most did manual work. Social and employment adjustment was manifestly poor. Their psychiatric condition at the time of the current commitment included disorders of the personality for the most part. Many of the offenders had been, discharged at the time of the study; however, there were a substantial number of long-term cases continuing. Victims were predominantly in the 8 ~ 11 age class interval which is comparable with similar studies., The Oregon group .involved higher number of multiple victims than is usually found However, offender-victim relationship was comparable to most offender samples. The concept that a stranger plays a minor role in sexual offenses was not clearly supported by the study. Offenders were not particularly recidivistic prior to the current offense, and none have repeated f0llowing discharge. Contrary to the notion of violent threatening behavior on the part of the offender, findings indicated a very low frequency/with most acts consisting of immature sexual gratification. Victim behavior was not often resistive, mostly consensual, and occasionally inviting. Offenses occurred most frequently in a residence. Duration of the offense was more often single occurrence except in the incest group. Intoxication was present in a minority of offenses but played a major role in certain types of offense. Implications for further research suggest the need for additional empirical studies which will explore the interrelated factors among characteristic items and experimental studies designed to assess the effectiveness of treatment methods.

The present paper is a descriptive study of sex offender sentencing in three Oregon counties in 1992. It examines the relationship between sentencing practices and indigent offenders. It focuses specifically on the question of offender indigent status and court ordered sex offender treatment. The study also provides information about the number of sex offenders in each of the three counties, how the offenders' sentences were determined by the courts through the use of the sentencing guidelines matrix, what type of plea was used, and what if any influence indigence had in the sentencing outcomes for the felony sex off enders in this study. Viewed from a conflict theoretical perspective, it was expected that indigent sex offenders would experience differential treatment by the courts. Two-tailed chi-square tests were computed to determine if a difference exists between sentences given indigent and non-indigent offenders. The same tests were applied to determine if there exists a difference between indigent and non-indigent in regard to the addressing of treatment in the sentence order. The tests were considered significant at the . 05 level. A significant difference was found between probation sentences and prison sentences for indigent versus non indigent offenders. Frequency scores were examined for this study by the number of indigent sex offenders that were convicted in each sample county for 1992, guilt type, guilt type and sentence, sentencing guidelines matrix score, indigence and race, and treatment by county. There is minimal information on the topic of sex offenders and the possible relationship between indigence, sentence disposition and treatment. The information contained in this study will contribute to the body of knowledge in the area of sex offenders and the results of this study will provide information useful for further research.