Sex Offenders in the Community: Post-Release, Registration, Notification and Residency Restrictions - Panel at the 2010 NIJ Conference

• NCJ Number: 234773
• Author(s): Karen J. Bachar; Elizabeth J. Letourneau; Kristen M. Zgoba; Alisa Klein
• Date Published: June 2010
• Length: 13 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Presentation (Multimedia); Legislation/Policy Analysis; Conference Material

Annotation

This audio and accompanying transcript cover a panel presentation at the 2010 NIJ Conference, in which three panel members address issues related to the effectiveness of legal requirements and restrictions on sex offenders living in communities following their release from prison.

Abstract

The particular issues addressed by the panel pertain to the requirements that sex offenders regularly register with law enforcement about their presence and location in the community where they live and that this information be made available to the public. Restrictions on where released sex offenders can live in a community are also discussed. Karen Bachar, social scientist analyst with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), introduces the issues to be discussed by the panel as well as the panel members and their experiences in dealing with these issues. She notes a central focus of the panel, i.e., whether the postrelease requirements and restrictions placed on sex offenders have reduced their recidivism and sex offending in general. Elizabeth Letourneau, associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, discusses three studies in which she was involved that examined the impact on sexual recidivism of South Carolina's sex offender registration and notification (SORN) law. Kristen Zgoba, supervisor of research and evaluation for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, discusses her research on homicide offenders, sex offenders, and geographic analysis, with attention to the impact of New Jersey's SORN law on sexual offending before and after the law was passed. The third panel member, Alisa Klein, a public policy consultant to the Association of Treatment for Sex Abusers, examines how research on the impact of SORN has been received by policymakers at the State and Federal levels.