| (April Newsletter 2003 - 3) The cunning propagandist loves such shortcuts – especially those that short circuit rational thought. Propaganda encourages this by agitating the emotions, by exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending rules of logic. As history bears out, such tactics can prove all too effective. The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) continually uses various tactics of propaganda such as outright misrepresentations, making generalizations, name calling, playing on residents/patients emotions. For example, fear is an emotion that can becloud judgment. MSOP plays on the patients/residents fear by telling those residents/patients still under the Department of Corrections parole conditions, that if they do not participate in treatment programming they will be sent back to prison. Or they may use the MSOP pass card removal as a ploy to manipulate/coerce the patients/residents into various undesirable situations that may be injuries to them. The art of propaganda can paralyze thought and prevent clear thinking. “By clever and persevering use of propaganda even heaven can be represented as hell to the people, and conversely the most wretched life as a paradise.” - Adolph Hilter, Mein Kampf. For nearly 10 years various forms of propaganda have been used to promote and sustain a dysfunctional treatment program called the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. It has cost Minnesota taxpayers con-servatively a ¼ billion dollars in ten years to show taxpayers that only one individual has been treated and released. Even the claim of “one individual” completing the program is propaganda. The individual has not completed the current program, however, he did complete its predecessor. There is a difference – a big difference – between education and propaganda. Education shows you how to think. Propaganda tells you what to think. Good educators present all sides of an issue and encourage discussion. Propagandists relentlessly force you to hear their view and discourage discus-sion. Often their real motives are not apparent. They sift the facts, exploiting the useful ones and con-cealing the others. They also distort and twist facts, specializing in lies and half – truths. Your emotions, not your logical thinking abilities are their target. Citizens for Reform encourages you the Minnesota taxpayer and those detained at these sites to become educated not exploited by your emotions. Sex offending has been exploited to create fear and hate of sex offenders nationally. Educate yourself and know the facts about sex offenders and sex offender recidivism. In preparing its 1996 research update, the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) reviewed a substantial public database of scientific studies related to sex offender treatment and recidivism. Based on that research, NCIA concluded that public policy in this area often is based on misinterpretations, bending of the facts, and myth. The NCIA also concluded from their extensive research that: A combined total of 46,507 sex offenders were studied and it was found that ONLY 12.95 percent were re-arrested for a subsequent sex offense. Rounding 12.9 percent to 13 percent tells us that 87 percent (8.7 out of 10 once-caught sex offenders), DO NOT go on to be re-arrested for a new sex offense. At a time when Minnesota taxpayers face a $4.2 billion dollar deficit, is it logically sound to continue an apparent abject failure such as the Minnesota Sex Offender Program? Do we as taxpayers wish to continue to have these individuals undergo experimental treatments that have not been proven to work? Do we as taxpayers wish to be held monetarily accountable for any psychological injury lawsuits or lawsuits brought on by various rights violations of those being detained? One only need look at the birth of Minnesota’s civil commitment statutes to fully understand how this knee jerk legislation is now backed into a corner with few options left after exploiting the insecurities of its citizenry. Citizens for Reform has presented you with some facts, however, we again encourage you to gather all the facts in order to make an educated decision in regard to this highly controversial issue or any decision you may face now and in the future. Can Empathy Be Measured? Does It Effect Recidivism? Minnesota Statute 253B.02 Subd. 18(b) (2001) a “Sexual Psychopathic Personality” suggests that the lack of empathy is a component of this legislatively created illness. Citizens For Reform has reviewed extensive research done by Rachel Mulloy, W. Carson Smiley, and Diana Mawson in regard to empathy. One of the components in the treatment of sex offenders at the MSOP is empathy training. The hope is that if the offender can put himself in the place of the person he hurts, he might not engage in such behavior again because he will have empathy for the harm he was causing. The researchers examined the records of 68 adult males: 31 (46%) were sex offenders and 37 (54%) were violent offenders. All had participated in cognitive-behavioral training that included empathy training much like that offered at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. The offenders researched in this instance were located at the Regional Health Center (RHC) in British Columbia. Post treatment scores on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were compared with staff ratings of performance while in treatment, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores, and recidivism data. No strong connection was found between treatment, re-offending, and IRI scores. |
WITH OR WITHOUT TREATMENT THE VAST MAJORITY OF ONCE-CAUGHT SEX OFFENDERS (87%) DON’T GO ON TO BE RE-ARRESTED FOR A SUBSEQUENT NEW SEX OFFENSE. |
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