Sex offenders: 70% drop in recidivism rate

Study led by Professor Patrick Lussier shows significant decline in recidivism of sex crimes in Canada over 80 years. Encouraging news: between 1940 and 2019, the recidivism rate of sex offenders in this country has dropped by nearly 70%, according to a study published in the journal Criminology and Public Policy . Improved knowledge of sexual offending and training of criminal justice officials could explain these results, argues Patrick Lussier, a professor at the School of Social Work and Criminology and leader of the meta-analysis. Over a two-year period, her research team surveyed the entire Canadian scientific literature on the subject. They reviewed 185 studies that had analyzed the recidivism rates of 226 groups of sex offenders across the country and over time, bringing the sample to 55,944 offenders. The results showed that between 1940 and 1979, the weighted average recidivism rate was 23%, whereas today it is around 7%. Hence the drop to almost 70%.