ABSTRACT
During the 1930s and 1940s, many states adopted a civil commitment procedure for dangerous sexual o€enders who had been designated sexual psychopaths; under these laws, o€enders were incarcerated until they had been judged not to pose a public danger. In the 1950s and 1960s, many states initiated laws and legislation that allowed commitment of sex o€enders to psychiatric hospitals or institutions instead of incarceration in prison to keep them from committing another sexual crime. A surge of sexual o€enses throughout the 1970s led lawmakers to believe that therapy, treatment, and rehabilitation were not really the answer. Most politicians thought the only answer would be to ensure that sex o€enders were sent back to prison (Jenkins 2010).
