Sanctions for sex offenders: Fear and public policy

Journal of Offender Rehabilitation

Volumn 48, Issue 7, 2009, Pages 605-619

  Comartin, Erin B ^a   Kernsmith, Roger M ^b  

^a WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Fear; Public opinion; Punishment; Sanctions; Sex offender

Indexed keywords

EID: 77950778043     PISSN: 10509674     EISSN: 15408558     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10509670903196066     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Adkins, G., Huff, D., & Stageberg, P. (2000). The Iowa sex offender registry and recidivism. Des Moines, IA: Iowa Department of Human Rights.
2. Affholter, P. (1999). Michigan’s changing sex offender registry law. Senate Fiscal Agency: Topics of Legislative Interest. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Publications/Notes/1999Notes/NotesNov Dec99Affholter.PDF
3. Anderson, A., & Sample, L. (2008). Public awareness and action resulting from sex offender community notification laws. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(4), 371-396.
4. Applebaum, P. (2008). Sex offenders in the community: Are current approaches counterproductive? Law & Psychiatry, 59, 352-354.
5. Bilefsky, D. (2009, March 11). Europeans debate castration of sex offenders. The New York Times, p. A1.
6. Bonta, J., Wallace-Capretta, S., & Rooney, J. (2000). Can electronic monitoring make a difference? An evaluation of three Canadian programs. Crime and Delinquency, 46(1), 61-75.
7. Bottoms, A. (1995). The philosophy and politics of punishment and sentencing. In C. Clarkson & R. Morgan (Eds.), The politics of sentencing reform (pp. 17-49). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
8. Brown, E. (2006). The dog that did not bark: Punitive social views and the ‘professional middle classes’. Punishment & Society, 8, 287-312.
9. Burchfield, K., & Mingus, W. (2008). Not in my neighborhood: Assessing registered sex offenders’ experiences with local social capital and social control. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 356-374.
10. Carlsmith, K., Monahan, J., & Evans, A. (2007). The function of punishment in the “civil” commitment of sexually violent predators. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 25, 437-448.
11. Casey, S., & Mohr, P. (2005). Law-and-order politics, public-opinion polls and the media. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 12(1), 141-151.
12. Duwe, G., Donnay, W., & Tewksbury, R. (2008). Does residential proximity matter? A geographic analysis of sex offense recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 484-504.
13. Edwards, W., & Hensley, C. (2001). Offender management legislation and policy: Evaluating the problem of latent consequences in community notification laws. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45(1), 83-101.
14. Farkas, M. A., & Stichman, A. (2002). Sex offender laws: Can treatment, punishment, incapacitation, and public safety be reconciled? Criminal Justice Review, 27, 256-282.
15. Forster, S. (2007). Lawmakers debate color-coded license plates for sex offenders. Retrieved June 9, 2008, from http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id= 590303.
16. Freeman-Longo, R. (1996). Prevention or problem? Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8(2), 91-100.
17. Hutton, N. (2005). Beyond populist punitiveness? Punishment & Society, 7, 243-258.
18. Kernsmith, P. D., Craun, S. W., & Foster, J. (2009). Public attitudes towards sexual offenders and sex offender registration. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 18, 290-301.
19. Koch, W. (2007, February 26). Sex-offender residency laws get a second look. USA Today. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-25-sexoffender-laws-cover_x.htm
20. Levenson, J., & D’Amora, D. (2007). Social policies designed to prevent sexual violence: The emperor’s new clothes? CriminalJustice Policy Review, 18, 168-199.
21. Levenson, J., & Hern, A. (2007). Sex offender residence restrictions: Unintended consequences and community reentry. Justice Research and Policy, 9(1), 59-73.
22. Malesky, A., & Keim, J. (2001). Mental health professionals’ perspectives on sex offender registry web sites. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13(53), 53-63.
23. McAlinden, A. (2005). The use of ‘shame’ with sexual offenders. British Journal of Criminology, 45, 373-394.
24. Nunes, K., Firestone, P., Wexler, A., Jensen, T., & Bradford, J. (2007). Incarceration and recidivism among sexual offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 31(3), 305-318.
25. Phillips, D. (1998). Community notification as viewed by Washington’s citizens. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
26. Pratt, J. (2000). Emotive and ostentatious punishment: Its decline and resurgence in modern society. Punishment & Society, 2, 417-439.
27. Prescott, J., & Rockoff, J. (2008). Do sex offender registration and notification laws affect criminal behavior? [Working Paper No. 08-006]. John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics, University of Michigan Law School. Retrieved September 18, 2008, from http://papers.ssrn.com/so13/papers.cfm?abstract_ id= 1100584.
28. Presser, L., & Gunnison, E. (1999). Strange bedfellows: Is sex offender notification a form of community justice? Crime & Delinquency, 45, 299-315.
29. Quinn, J., Forsyth, C., & Mullen-Quinn, C. (2004). Societal reaction to sex offenders: A review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability. Deviant Behavior, 25, 215-232.
30. Redlich, A. (2001). Community notification: Perceptions of its effectiveness in preventing child sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 10(3), 91-116.
31. Roberts, J., & Stalans, L. (2004). Restorative sentencing: Exploring the views of the public. Social Justice Research, 17, 315-334.
32. Sample, L., & Kadleck, C. (2008). Sex offender laws: Legislators’ accounts of the need for policy. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 19(1), 40-62.
33. Schram, D., & Milloy, C. (1998). Sexually violent predators and civil commitment: A study of characteristics and recidivism of sex offenders considered for civil commitment but for whom proceedings were declined. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
34. Sherman, L. (1993). Defiance, deterrence, and irrelevance: A theory of the criminal sanction. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 445-473.
35. Sidanius, J., Mitchell, M., Haley, H., & Navarrete, C. (2006). Support for harsh criminal sanctions and criminal justice beliefs: A social dominance perspective. Social Justice Research, 19, 433-449.
36. Tewksbury, R. (2005). Collateral consequences of sex offender registration. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 67-81.
37. Tewksbury, R., & Lees, M. (2007). Perceptions of punishment: How registered sex offenders view registries. Crime & Delinquency, 53, 380-407.
38. Thomas, T. (2004). When public protection becomes punishment? The UK use of civil measures to contain the sex offender. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 10, 337-351.
39. U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2000). Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main. html?_lang=en
40. Warr, M. (1995). Trends: Public opinion on crime and punishment. Public Opinion Quarterly, 59, 296-310.
41. Wright, R. (2003). Sex offender registration and notification: Public attention, political emphasis, and fear. Criminology and Public Policy, 3(1), 97-104.
42. Zevitz, R., Crim, D., & Farkas, M. (2000). Sex offender community notification: Managing high risk criminals or exacting further vengeance? Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18, 375-391.
43. Zgoba, K., Witt, P., Dalessandro, M., & Veysey, B. (2008). Megan’s Law: Assessing the practical and monetary efficacy [Report No. NCJ 225370]. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.