https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8825-400X
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ABSTRACT
Scholars have argued that myths about sex offences and offenders lead to support for sex offender community notification. However, studies on a direct association supporting this argument are scarce. This study therefore explored the relationship between citizens’ perceived sex offence myths and the perceived effectiveness of notification using a survey of more than 2,000 citizens in South Korea. The ordinal regression analysis suggests that citizens who support sex offence myths (e.g., sex offenders are likely to reoffend, target strangers, are mentally ill, or have no plan for sex offences) showed a high level of perceived effectiveness of notification (e.g., deterring sex offenders’ reoffending, deterring citizens’ sex offences, increasing public awareness of sex offences, and protecting children from sexual assaults). These findings imply that citizens need education about sex offence myths. Additionally, sex offender community notification should be used primarily for high-risk offenders.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. The Korean Institute of Criminology (Citation2020) conducted an updated survey in 2020. However, the updated survey does not include questions about sex offender myths, which are important variables in the present work. The present study therefore used the 2012 dataset.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Don Soo Chon
Don Soo Chon is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Auburn University at Montgomery. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Florida State University. Dr. Chon’s research interests include cross-national study of homicide, sexual assault, fear of crime, and comparative criminal justice system.