“The Criminal Sexual Psychopath in Canada: Sex, Psychiatry and the Law at Mid-Century”

Chenier, Elise

doi:10.3138/cbmh.20.1.75

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…As part of their attempts to deal with SOR, American and Canadian governments enacted a series of sex offender laws (SOL) aimed at preventing sexual recidivism. While American and Canadian policies were similar in the beginning (sexual psychopathy laws; e.g., Chenier, 2003), their paths have since diverged (e.g., Petrunik, 2003). The America policy context is characterized by stringent measures aimed at deterring reoffending (e.g., public sex offender registries, public notifications, and residency restriction laws).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The sexual recidivism drop in Canada: A meta‐analysis of sex offender recidivism rates over an 80‐year period

Lussier

McCuish

Proulx

et al. 2022

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research summary In the past, the Canadian government followed in the footsteps of its American counterpart by enacting “sex offender laws.” Since the 1990s, however, the Canadian criminal justice system has taken a different approach to the issue of sex offender recidivism (SOR), focusing on treatment, rehabilitation, and community risk management. This evidence‐based approach has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent convicted offenders from sexually reoffending. This criticism has not been addressed empirically, leaving open the question of whether this Canadian policy shift is associated with changes in the rate of sexual recidivism. The present study uses a meta‐analytic framework to look at 185 Canadian‐based studies involving over 50,000 offenders, making it possible to combine 226 sexual recidivism rates. After controlling for factors such as follow‐up length and the independence of samples, weighted pooled recidivism rates have declined since the 1970s by more than 60%. This trend may have gone unnoticed because it is not related to the year of publication but to the period in which the data were collected. Policy implications The findings have significant implications for criminal justice practices including the importance of using risk assessment tools that are regularly calibrated to reflect the evolution of sexual recidivism rates over time. Although the current study cannot provide firm conclusions about the factors responsible for this gradual drop, several hypotheses are discussed. Knowledge‐based criminal justice practices, better training for professionals, and improvements in treatment programs may have had a subtle and cumulative impact on sexual recidivism rates. The importance of examining period effects on SOR using a comparative and international perspective is discussed.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

The sexual recidivism drop in Canada: A meta‐analysis of sex offender recidivism rates over an 80‐year period

Lussier

McCuish

Proulx

et al. 2022

Criminology & Public Policy

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“…In Canada, the federal parliament unanimously voted in favour of the introduction of adopting sexual psychopathy legislation in 1948, based the United States laws that had originated in Michigan in 1937. Sex crimes against children emerged as one of the most urgent problems in Canada after the Second World War, and there was a general acceptance of the premise that repeat sexual offenders were not deterred by threat of incarceration, because their actions were driven by an uncontrollable impulse to commit their crimes (Chenier, 2003). Chenier (2003: 77) proposed that, as in the United States, Canadian sexual psychopath laws 'married psychiatric expertise to political prerogative', allowing the state to incarcerate offenders until an expert psychiatrist deemed them to be "cured".…”

Section: The Origins Of Preventive Sentencingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Throwing Away the Key: An Examination of the Renaissance of Preventive Detention in New Zealand

Anderson¹

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<p>The indeterminate sentence of preventive detention has experienced a renaissance in New Zealand since the 1980s. What was once a seldom used, emergency provision intended for application to the most dangerous offenders in our society, is now used with alarming frequency: while fifteen offenders served sentences of preventive detention in 1981, the number had risen to 263 by 2014. This thesis seeks to explore the forces driving the renaissance of preventive detention in New Zealand. Throughout advanced liberal democracies, there has been a shift toward risk driven penal policy. Significant social, political, and economic changes in these societies from the 1980s onwards - such as the neoliberal reforms, and the associated uncaging of risk; social liberation and restructuring; and the cultivation of lifestyles; have contributed to, and exacerbated ontological insecurity and anxiety. The delegation of risk by the state to the individual has produced the variety of benefits and opportunities it was intended for, however it has also left people feeling insecure about their safety and wellbeing within the modern society, knowing that the shrunken state is unwilling, or unable to intervene and protect them. The expansion of preventive detention is an example of the state stepping in and performing a ‘spectacular rescue’ (Pratt and Anderson, 2016: 12). The revival and expansion of preventive detention has been part of the response of the New Zealand government to the intolerable risk of irreparable and irredeemable harm, posed by violent and sexual offenders in particular. The significant increase in the use of preventive detention is representative of a wider trend of risk driven penal policy throughout the main English speaking societies. While the parallel strand of punitive penal policy has been explored in great depth, the trend toward risk driven penal policy has elicited less focus. Within the literature, there is a lack of identification of risk driven penal policy as a separate strand of development, subject to a separate line of inquiry. This thesis seeks to add to the literature on the influence of risk, exploring it as the driving force behind the revival of preventive detention.</p>

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“…A number of different kinds of organizations participated in the Commission hearings, with a blend of religious, educational, and women's groups all showing their concern for the welfare of women and children, the primary victims of the criminal sexual psychopath. The introduction of CSP legislation in 1948 was the result of public pressure that mobilized around the problem of sexual offences against women and children following the close of World War II (Chenier, 2003(Chenier, , 2008. A product of both "sensational media coverage of sexual assaults" and a handful of high-profile murder cases in which the victims were children (Chenier, 2008, pp.…”

Section: A Problem For Psychiatry and Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The assumption of psychiatry's capabilities that grounded Mercier's testimony illustrates the gap between the optimism around and the reality of the discipline at the time, as well as the convenient solutions it could provide. Chenier (2003Chenier ( , 2008 highlighted such a trend in her examination of CSP legislation that began with an "epistemological shift" following the close of World War II whereby many Canadians came to understand those charged with sexual offences as requiring medical rather than legal intervention. The purported failure of legal sanctions to stem the perceived problem of sexual attacks on women and children saw the adoption of a psychiatric perspective that in turn demanded psychiatric solutions: in this case, indefinite detention aimed at curing (or at least indefinitely detaining) the criminal sexual psychopath.…”

Section: The Limits Of Medicolegal Convergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Making Sense of “Insanity”: A Genealogy of Canada’s Not Criminally Responsible Subject

Remington¹

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In 2014, Stephen Harper's Conservative government introduced the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act. Amongst the handful of changes instituted by the legislation, the Act created the "high-risk accused" designation that, when applied, heightens measures in the detention of the accused and transfers authority for their release from provincial review boards to criminal courts. While the new laws reflect the Harper government's "tough on crime" policy, I start by noting how difficult it is to sum up my gratitude to everyone that helped me with this dissertation. To my supervisor, Dr. Dawn Moore, thank you for the years of kind and patient guidance; somehow you managed to lead without stifling. Dr. Diana Young, thank you for the many concise insights you provided along the way; you always had a way of getting at what I struggled to say. Dr. Jennifer Kilty, your conscientious and thoughtful consideration was unwavering throughout this process; I was consistently awed by your attention to my drafts and your incisive comments. This has been an uncomfortably self-centred process, one in which I've had to rely on the generosity of a number of individuals for which I could offer little in return. Dr. Bruce Arrigo and Dr. Josh Greenberg, thank you for the care and work you put into the examination of this thesis. Your efforts benefitted my own understanding of this project and made an angst-ridden day more enjoyable than I initially thought possible. Andrew Squires, you were of immense support throughout these years. Aside from the obvious administrative help, I always thoroughly enjoyed our chance discussions. Siobhan MacLean, thank you for your indispensable help in the final stages of this process -your care and concern was evident. And to the late Barb Higgins, thank you for your support; it was always a pleasure when our paths crossed.The historical nature of the project has meant that people at various libraries and archives have played an essential role. John Court, you not only were incredibly thorough in helping me with my particular needs (you took on my own questions like they were your own), but you were also so gracious in involving me in the process wherever possible (even where I may have only served to complicate it). Thank you to Paul Leatherdale as well. While so much archival material was inaccessible amidst a global pandemic, you went above and beyond to provide me access to the resources I needed.To my folks, who are nothing if not supportive, thank you for the seemingly bottomless well of encouragement and understanding that extends beyond this dissertation. Waylon, I couldn't ask for a better best friend. And finally, Sarah, this simply would not have been done without you. From your active support to just letting me be so self-involved over these years, I hope you realize how important you are in my life.

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“The Criminal Sexual Psychopath in Canada: Sex, Psychiatry and the Law at Mid-Century”

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

The sexual recidivism drop in Canada: A meta‐analysis of sex offender recidivism rates over an 80‐year period

The sexual recidivism drop in Canada: A meta‐analysis of sex offender recidivism rates over an 80‐year period

Throwing Away the Key: An Examination of the Renaissance of Preventive Detention in New Zealand

Making Sense of “Insanity”: A Genealogy of Canada’s Not Criminally Responsible Subject

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