Public Opinions on Applying Adult Sex Offender Legislation to Minors Convicted of Sex Crimes

2021 ◽  
pp. 088740342110463
Author(s):  
Calli M. Cain ◽  
Lisa L. Sample

A controversial part of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) mandates that states require minors adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to be on the sex offender registry, but not all states have complied. Our article examines how far the public in one Midwestern state that has not complied with the AWA is willing to go to manage juvenile sex offenders. We use a statewide survey of adults to examine attitudes toward applying adult sex offender penalties to minors adjudicated of a sex crime (residency restrictions, prohibitions from public schools, school zones, public parks, and social networking sites). Results indicate more than half (60%) of participants agreed that juveniles should be on the public sex offender registry. However, there was less consensus on how punitively juveniles should be treated compared with adult sex offenders. Results indicated which demographics in this state were more likely to hold punitive views toward juvenile sex offenders.

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110173
Author(s):  
Douglas Evans ◽  
Adam Trahan ◽  
Kaleigh Laird

The detriment of incarceration experienced by the formerly incarcerated has been increasingly explored in the literature on reentry. A tangential but equally concerning issue that has recently received more research attention is the effect on family members of the incarcerated. The stigma of a criminal conviction is most apparent among families of convicted sex offenders, who experience consequences parallel to those of their convicted relative. Drawing from interviews with 30 individuals with a family member incarcerated for a sex offence in the United States, this study explores manifestations of stigma due to familial association. The findings suggest that families face negative treatment from social networks and criminal justice officials, engage in self-blame and that the media’s control over the narrative exacerbates family members’ experiences. Given the pervasiveness of criminal justice system contact, the rapid growth of the sex offender registry in the United States, and the millions of family members peripherally affected by one or both, justice system reforms are needed to ensure that family members are shielded from the harms of incarceration and registration.


2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052095841
Author(s):  
Ji Seun Sohn ◽  
Napoleon C. Reyes ◽  
Hyejin Kim

Psychopathy of child sex offenders in non-Western and Asian population is not frequently reported. The study examined psychopathic traits assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in three groups of male offenders, child sex offender, adult sex offender, and nonsex offender groups. Out of 451 offenders included in the sample, 445 recidivated after a follow up of 11 years: 27 child sex offenders, 174 adult sex offenders, and 244 nonsex offenders. Adult sex offenders scored higher in four facets and total scores compared with nonsex offenders. Child sex offenders had more problems in interpersonal (facet 1) and affective (facet 2) traits than nonsex offenders. More specifically, child sex offenders scored higher in failure to accept responsibility (item 16, Cohen’s d = 0.80) and callous/lack of empathy (item 8, Cohen’s d = 0.59) of facet 2 and pathological lying (item 4, Cohen’s d = 0.58) and glibness/superficial charm (item 1, Cohen’s d = 0.48) of facet 1 than nonsex offenders. Both child sex offenders and adults sex offenders were found to be more psychopathic than nonsex offenders. While facets 1, 2, and 3 did not separate child and adult sex offending, child sex offenders scored significantly lower in antisocial problems (facet 4) than adult sex offenders. Despite the limitation of using a sample of mostly high-risk offenders, our findings indicate that higher PCL-R scores in specific facets (1 and 2) and items (1, 4, 8, and 16) are more predictive of child sex offending and suggest insight for treatment strategies of child sex offenders.


Author(s):  
Catrien Bijleveld ◽  
Chantal van den Berg ◽  
Jan Hendriks

Juvenile sexual offending is often regarded as a precursor of serious and continued sexual offending in adulthood, but there has been little empirical evidence supporting this assumption. Could juvenile sexual offending be just a ‘passing phase’? The study discussed in this essay follows the criminal career about 1,600 juvenile sex offenders from early adolescence into adulthood. A comprehensive view of the entire criminal career is presented to establish whether juvenile sexual offending is a precursor of continued (sexual) offending in adulthood or if (sexual) offending is non-chronic for most. The sexual recidivists in the sample are identified, and this group is used to establish the risk factors associated with continued sexual offending. These risk factors are compared to the ones used in risk assessment instruments for (juvenile) sex offenders. This study holds crucial information for policy and theory regarding juvenile sex offenders.


Author(s):  
Jacky Burrows

This chapter focuses attention on sex offenders who, perhaps more than any other 'type' of offender, have been systematically vilified, demonised, and ostracised from mainstream society. The author argues that, for once, the public, the media, the government, and – worryingly – large numbers of professionals seem to be in agreement that such 'othering' is entirely right and proper in what are seen to be the larger interests of public protection. The author explores the implications of this deeply entrenched culture for ‘would-be desisters’ and suggests ways forward that offer individuals opportunities to uncouple from the ‘master status’ of sex offender and to build positive social networks.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Eaton

<p>Sex offender registries are prominent and controversial methods of managing sex offenders once released into the community. The purposes and form of these registers vary between jurisdictions. A current proposal has been made for the development and implementation of such a register in New Zealand which would focus on child sex offenders specifically. In determining whether this intervention would be justified and serve a practical purpose, this paper looks at the risk posed by child sex offenders and the current measures in place to manage this risk. This paper finds that the proposed child sex offender register will enhance the current management measures and information sharing arrangements regarding child sex offenders. Various rights and interests are affected by the implementation of a sex offender registry; the inherent tension being between freedom of expression and privacy. This paper looks at whether the current proposal achieves an appropriate balance between these rights. Whilst an appropriate balance is achieved by the register itself, this balance will have to be more carefully considered in the development of the proposed disclosure scheme.</p>


Author(s):  
Terry Thomas

This essay starts by discussing the initial police involvement with newly reported sexual offences, covering local policing, problems with reporting to the police, police attitudes to complainants, and the role of sexual assault referral centres. The next section reviews police investigations of sexual offences, evidence gathering, and the role of forensic science and preparation for prosecution decisions. The author then explores the new role given to the police in their public protection role. This requires the police to take on supervisory activities, including administering the sex offender registry, applying for preventive civil orders, and disseminating information on sex offenders. The essay concludes by looking at the national and international policing of sexual offenders, including the policing of ‘sex tourism’.


2020 ◽  
pp. 073401682097103
Author(s):  
John C. Navarro ◽  
Ethan M. Higgins ◽  
Kristin Swartz

In recent decades, sex offender registry and notification has become ubiquitous across the United States. Although researchers have attempted to evaluate the awareness of registered sex offenders, much of this work has had a nearly unilateral focus on urban communities. In response, researchers have called for further investigation into whether awareness manifests differently across community type (suburban and urban). To address this question, we draw from two data sets. The first data set contains property data for single-family households sold in 2015 from a suburban county in Illinois and an urban county in Kentucky. The second data set consists of survey responses from 113 suburban and 171 urban county residents within 1,000 feet of the nearest sex offender that was delivered via a sequential mixed-mode design. In addition, we investigate whether awareness manifests differently across community type through a number of predictors (e.g., children in the household, education) and potential theoretical explanations (fear of crime, informal social control, and social cohesion). We find that community types do have differing levels of awareness and that varying levels of social cohesion may explain this difference. Implications are also discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document