Sensationalising sex offenders and sexual recidivism: Impact of the serious sex offender monitoring Act 2005 on media reportage

Australian Psychologist

Volumn 44, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 156-165

  Ducat, Lauren ^a   Thomas, Stuart ^b   Blood, Warwick ^c  

^a School of Psychology   (Australia)

^b MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA   (Australia)

Author keywords

Cognitive processes; Mass media communications; Media; Psychology and law; Sex offending

Indexed keywords

EID: 70449572993     PISSN: 00050067     EISSN: 17429544     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00050060903127499     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004). Sexual assault in Australia: A statistical overview (No. 4523.0). Canberra, ACT: Author.
2. Australian Press Council (2006). State of the news print media in Australia report 2006 (No. 1835). Sydney: Author.
3. Bazeley, P., & Richards, L. (2000). The NVivo qualitative project book. London: Sage.
4. Blood, R. W., & Holland, K. (2004). Risky news, madness and public crisis: A case study of the reporting and portrayal of mental health and illness in the Australian press. Journalism, 5, 323-342.
5. Blood, R. W., Pirkis, J., & Holland, K. (2007). Media reporting of suicide methods: An Australian perspective. Crisis, 28, 64-69.
6. Broadhurst, R. G., & Maller, R. A. (1992). The recidivism of sex offenders in the Western Australian prison population. British Journal of Criminology, 32, 54-80.
7. Cheek, J. (2000). Postmodern and poststructural approaches to nursing research. California: Sage Publications.
8. Cheit, R. E. (2003). What hysteria? A systematic study of newspaper coverage of accused child molesters. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27, 607-623.
9. Chermak, S. (1998). Predicting crime story salience: The effects of crime, victim, and defendant characteristics. Journal of Criminal Justice, 26, 61-70.
10. Chibnall, S. (1977). Law and order news. London: Tavistock.
11. Cohen, S. (1973). Folk Devils and Moral Panics. St Albans: Paladin.
12. Collins, P. A., Abelson, J., Pyman, H., & Lavis, J. N. (2006). Are we expecting too much from print media? Social Science and Medicine, 63, 89-102.
13. Coverdale, J., Nairn, R., & Claasen, D. (2002). Depictions of mental illness in print media: A prospective national sample. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36, 697-700.
14. Critcher, C. (2005). Media, government and moral panic: The politics of paedophilia in Britain 2000-1. Journalism Studies, 3, 521-535.
15. Ellingson, P. (2004, 24 October). Too close to home: The hidden horrors of child sex abuse. The Age, pp. 1, 8.
16. Escarela, G., Francis, B., & Soothill, K. (2000). Competing risks, persistence, and desistence in analyzing recidivism. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 16, 385-413.
17. Gelb, K. (2006). Myths and misconceptions: Public opinion versus public judgement about sentencing. Victoria: Sentencing Advisory Council.
18. Gelb, K. (2007). Recidivism of sex offenders. Victoria: Sentencing Advisory Council.
19. Giles, T. (2004, 31 May). No escape for worst predators. Herald Sun, pp. 1, 4.
20. Greer, C. (2003). Sex crimes and the media: Sex offending and the press in a divided society. Cullompten, Devon: Willan Publishing.
21. Hanson, R., & Bussiere, M. T. (1998). Predicting relapse: A metaanalysis of sexual offender recidivism studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 348-362.
22. Hanson, R., & Morton-Bourgon, K. E. (2005). The characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: A meta-analysis of recidivism studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1154-1163.
23. Hanson, R., Steffy, R. A., & Gauthier, R. (1993). Long-term recidivism of child molesters. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 646-652.
24. Herald Sun. We find Mr Baldy. (2005, 15 July). Herald Sun, p. 1.
25. Kelly, J. (2005, 31 January). Tracked for life: New law to monitor child predator Mr Baldy. Herald Sun, pp. 1, 5.
26. Kitzinger, J. (1999a). The ultimate neighbour from hell? Stranger danger and the media representation of 'paedophilia'. In B. Franklin (Ed.), Social policy, the media and misrepresentation (pp. 207-221). London: Routlege.
27. Kitzinger, J. (1999b). Researching risk and the media. Health, Risk and Society, 1, 55-69.
28. Kitzinger, J. (2004). Framing abuse: Media influence and public understanding of sexual violence against children. London: Pluto Press.
29. Kitzinger, J., & Reilly, J. (1997). The rise and fall of risk reporting: Media coverage of human genetics research, 'false memory syndrome' and mad cow disease. European Journal of Communication, 12, 319-350.
30. Leviore, D. (2004). Recidivism of sexual assault offenders: Rates, risk factors and treatment efficacy. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology.
31. Lotz, R. E. (1991). Crime and the American press. Westport, CT: Praeger.
32. Marsh, H. L. (1991). A comparative analysis of crime coverage in newspapers in the United States and other countries from 1960-1989: A review of the literature. Journal of Criminal Justice, 19, 67-79.
33. McKenna, B., Thom, K., & Simpson, A. I. F. (2007). Media coverage of homicide involving mentally disordered offenders: A matched comparison study. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 6, 57-63.
34. McSherry, B., & Waller, L. (2006). High risk offenders: Continued detention and supervision options. Victoria: Sentencing Advisory Council.
35. Mercado, C. C., & Ogloff, J. R. P. (2007). Risk and the preventive detention of sex offenders in Australia and the United States. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 30, 49-59.
36. McCombs, M. (2004). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion. Cambridge: Polity Press.
37. Mullighan, T. (2008). Children on the APY Lands Commission of Inquiry. Report tabled for the South Australian State Government. Adelaide: Parliament of South Australia.
38. Munro, I., & Topsfield, J. (2004, 21 October). Mr Baldy release needs 'long parole'. The Age, p. 6.
39. Nairn, R., Coverdale, J., & Claasen, D. (2001). From source material to news story in New Zealand print media: A prospective study of the stigmatizing processes in depicting mental illness. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 654-659.
40. Nairn, R., Coverdale, J., & Claasen, D. (2006). What is the role of intertextuality in media depictions of mental illness? Implications for forensic psychiatry. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 16, 243-250.
41. National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children (2009). Background paper to Time for Action: The National Council's plan for Australia to reduce violence against women and their children 2009-2021.Canberra: Author.
42. Peelo, M., Francis, B., Soothill, K., Pearson, J., & Ackerley, E. (2004). Newspaper reporting and the public construction of homicide. British Journal of Criminology, 44, 256-275.
43. Pirkis, J., & Blood, R. W. (2001). Suicide and the media: Part1: Reportage in nonfictional media. Crisis, 22, 146-154.
44. Proulx, J., Ouimet, M., Pellerin, B., Paradis, Y., McKibben, A. & Aubut, J. (1998). Post-treatment recidivism rates in sexual aggressors: A comparison between dropout and nondropout subjects. Montreal: University of Montreal.
45. Richardson, J. E. (2007). Analysing newspapers: An approach from critical discourse analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
46. Ross, N. (2003, 3 October). Sex fiend's jail term cut. Herald Sun, p. 11.
47. Serious Sex Offender Monitoring Act, 2005 (Vic). Slovic, P. (2000). The perception of risk. Sterling, VA: Earthscan Publications.
48. Smallbone, S. W., Wheaton, J., & Hourigan, D. (2003). Trait empathy and criminal versatility in sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 15, 49-60.
49. Soothill, K. (2004). Editorial: Sex crime and the media. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 14, 227-230.
50. Soothill, K., Harman, J., Francis, B., & Kirby, S. (2005). Identifying future repeat danger from sexual offenders against children: A focus on those convicted and those strongly suspected of such crime. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 16, 225-247.
51. Soothill, K., & Walby, S. (1991). Sex crime in the news. London: Routlege.
52. Sullivan, D. H., Mullen, P. E., & Pathè, M. T. (2005). Legislation in Victoria on sexual offenders: Issues for health professionals. Medical Journal of Australia, 183, 318-320.
53. Sunstein, C. R. (2001). The laws of fear. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Law and Economics.
54. Surette, R. (1994). Predator criminals as media icons. In G. Barak (Ed.), Media, process, and the social construction of crime: Studies in newsmaking criminology (pp. 131-158). New York: Garland Publishing.
55. Szego, J. (2005, 18 April). Matters of conviction. The Age, p. 9.
56. Thakker, J., & Durrant, R. (2006). News coverage of sexual offending in New Zealand, 2003. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 35, 28-35.
57. Thomas, T. (2003). Sex offender community notification: Experiences from America. Howard Journal, 42, 217-228.
58. Thomas, T. (2005). Sex crime: Sex offending and society (2nd ed.). Devon, UK: Willan Publishing.
59. Trivits, L. C., & Repucci, N. D. (2002). Application of Megan's Law to juveniles. American Psychologist, 57, 690-704.
60. Tulloch, J. (1999). Fear of crime and the media: Sociocultural theories of risk. In D. Lupton (Ed.), Risk and sociocultural theory: New directions and perspectives (pp. 34-58). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
61. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 1124-1131.
62. Wasserman, A. L. (1998). Sexual offending: Linking assessment, intervention and decision making. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 4, 138-174.
63. Wilczynski, A., & Sinclair, K. (1999).Moral tales: Representations of child abuse in the quality and tabloid media. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 32, 262-283.
64. Wilkinson, G. (2005, 19 August). Plea to protect kids: Secrecy condemned. Herald Sun, p. 7.
65. Wilkinson, G. (2006, 4 February). Top cop jailed for boy abuse. Herald Sun, p. 14.
66. Wormith, J., & Hanson, R. (1992). The treatment of sexual offenders in Canada: An update. Canadian Psychology, 33, 180-198.