NCJ Number
229076
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 53 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2009 Pages: 679-695
Date Published
December 2009
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined how the community felt about the effectiveness of policies such as registration and community notification.
Abstract
Findings show that the majority of the participants were knowledgeable about the basic tenets of registration and notification laws (Megan's Law), and almost half of the participants reported having received this information via television. Results also suggest that although 44.2 percent of respondents felt Megan's Law helped to prevent offending, the majority did not feel that sex offender recidivism rates had decreased because of Megan's Law. Furthermore, less than 30 percent of those surveyed were supportive of residence restrictions, both in their potential effectiveness in preventing sexual abuse and in limiting sex offender's access to children. Finally, although the majority of participants appeared sympathetic toward the negative impact that community notification has on sex offenders such as vigilantism, embarrassment, shame, and isolation, there was still a substantial minority who had very little concern about these effects. Most surveyed also appeared less sympathetic toward the negative impact residence restrictions have on sex offenders by way of finding suitable housing, family support, and treatment services. Data were collected from 115 participants from a nationwide online community board. Tables and references