903
Views
21
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Taking stock of 20 years of sex offender laws and research: an examination of whether sex offender legislation has helped or hindered our efforts

&
Pages 335-355 | Received 29 Nov 2011, Accepted 11 Jan 2012, Published online: 27 Feb 2012

References

  • Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act . 2006 . (42 U.S.C. §)
  • American Psychiatric Association (APA) . 1999 . Dangerous sexual offenders: a task force report of the American Psychiatric Association , Washington , DC : APA .
  • Chajewski , M. and Mercado , C. C. 2008 . An analysis of sex offender residency restrictions in Newark, New Jersey . Sex Offender Law Report , 9 : 1 – 15 .
  • Cornwell , J. , Jacobi , J. and Witt , P. 1999 . The New Jersey Sexually Violent Predator Act: analysis and recommendations for the treatment of sexual offenders in New Jersey . Seton Hall Legislative Journal , 24 : 1 – 42 .
  • Corrigan , R. 2006 . Making meaning of Megan's Law . Law & Social Inquiry , 31 : 267 – 312 .
  • Duwe , G. and Donnay , W. 2008 . The impact of Megan's Law on sex offender recidivism: the Minnesota experience . Criminology , 46 : 411 – 446 .
  • Duwe , G. , Donnay , W. and Tewksbury , R. 2006 . Does residential proximity matter? A geographic analysis of sex offense recidivism . Criminal Justice and Behavior , 35 : 484 – 504 .
  • Freeman , N. and Sandler , J. 2010 . The Adam Walsh Act: a false sense of security or an effective public policy initiative? . Criminal Justice Policy Review , 21 : 31 – 49 .
  • Harris , A. , Lobanov-Rostovsy , C. and Levenson , J. 2010 . Widening the net: the effects of transitioning to the Adam Walsh Act's federally mandated sex offender classification system . Criminal Justice and Behavior , 37 : 503 – 519 .
  • Jenkins , P. 1998 . Moral panic: changing concepts of the child molester in modern America , NewHaven , CT : Yale University Press .
  • Kabat , A. 1998 . Scarlet letter sex offender databases and community notification: sacrificing personal privacy for a symbol's sake . American Criminal Law Review , 35 : 333 – 370 .
  • LaFond , J. 2005 . Preventing sexual violence: how society should cope with sex offenders , Washington , DC : American Psychological Association .
  • Letourneau , E.J. 2010 . Evaluating the effectiveness of sex offender registration and notification policies for reducing sexual violence against women U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, NCJRS (2006-WG-BX-0002)
  • Levenson , J. 2009 . “ Sex offender residence restrictions ” . In Sex offender policies , Edited by: Wright , R. G. 267 – 290 . New York : Springer .
  • Levenson , J. and Cotter , L. 2005 . The impact of sex offender residence restrictions: 1,000 feet from danger, or one step from absurd? . International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology , 49 : 168 – 178 .
  • Levenson , J. S. , D'Amora , D. A. and Hern , A. 2007 . Megan's Law and its impact on community re-entry for sex offenders . Behavioral Sciences and the Law , 25 : 587 – 602 .
  • Levenson , J. , Zgoba , K. and Tewksbury , R. 2007 . Sex offender residence restrictions: sensible crime policy or flawed logic? . Federal Probation , 71 : 2 – 9 .
  • Logan , W. A. 2009 . Knowledge as power: criminal registration and community notification laws in America , Palo Alto , CA : Stanford University Press .
  • Meloy , M. L. , Miller , S. and Curtis , K. 2008 . Making sense out of nonsense: the deconstruction of state-level sex offender residence restrictions . American Journal of Criminal Justice , 33 : 243 – 266 .
  • Meloy , M. L. , Saleh , Y. and Wolff , N. 2007 . Sex offender laws in America: can panic-driven legislation ever create safer societies? . Criminal Justice Studies , 20 : 423 – 443 .
  • Mercado , C. , Alvarez , S. and Levenson , J. 2008 . The impact of specialized sex offender legislation on community reentry . Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment , 20 : 188 – 205 .
  • Meyer , W. J. 2003 . Outpatient civil commitment in Texas for management and treatment of sexually violent predators: a preliminary report . International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology , 47 : 396 – 406 .
  • Minnesota Department of Corrections, 2003. Level three sex offenders residential placement issues: 2003 report to the Legislature. Available from: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/docs/2003/mandated/030175.pdf [Accessed 6 Jan 2012]
  • Petrosino , A. J. and Petrosino , C. 1999 . The public safety potential of Megan's Law in Massachusetts: an assessment from a sample of criminal sexual psychopaths . Crime and Delinquency , 45 : 140 – 157 .
  • Prentky , R. A. and Lee , A. F. 2007 . Effect of age-at-release on long term sexual reoffense rates in civilly committed sexual offenders . Sexual Abuse , 19 : 43 – 59 .
  • Sample , L. and Kadleck , C. 2008 . Sex offender laws: legislators' accounts of the need for policy . Criminal Justice Policy Review , 19 : 40 – 62 .
  • Sandler , J. , Freeman , N. and Socia , K. 2008 . Does a watched pot boil? A time-series analysis of New York State's sex offender registration and notification law . Psychology, Public Policy, and Law , 14 : 284 – 302 .
  • Schlank , A. and Cohen , F. 1999 . The sexual predator: law, policy, evaluation and treatment , Kingston , NJ : Civic Research Institute .
  • Schram , D. and Milloy , C.D. 1995 . Community notification: a study of offender characteristics & recidivism , Seattle : Urban Policy Research .
  • Schram , D. and Milloy , C. D. 1998 . A study of the characteristics and recidivism of sex offenders considered for civil commitment but for whom proceedings were declined , Olympia : Washington State Institute for Public Policy .
  • Simon , L. 1997 . Do criminal offenders specialize in crime types? . Applied and Preventive Psychology , 6 : 35 – 53 .
  • State of California Sex Offender Management Board . n.d . Adam Walsh Act: Statement of Position [online] Available from: http://www.opd.ohio.gov/AWA_Information/AWA_CA_SOMB_SORNA_Position_Paper.pdf [Accessed 6 Jan 2012]
  • State of Minnesota, Office of the Legislative Auditor . 2011 . Evaluation report: civil commitment of sex offenders, March [online] Available from: http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us [Accessed 6 Jan 2012]
  • Terry , K. J. and Ackerman , A. R. 2009 . “ A brief history of major sex offender laws ” . In Sex offender laws: failed policies, new directions , Edited by: Wright , R. G. 65 – 98 . New York : Springer .
  • Tewksbury , R. 2005 . Collateral consequences of sex offender registration . Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice , 21 : 67 – 81 .
  • Tewksbury , R. and Jennings , W. G. 2010 . Assessing the impact of sex offender registration and community notification on sex offending trajectories . Criminal Justice and Behavior , 37 : 570 – 582 .
  • Tewksbury , R. , Jennings , W. G. and Zgoba , K. 2011 . A longitudinal examination of sex offender recidivism prior to and following the implementation of SORN . Behavioral Sciences and the Law , DOI: 10.1002/bsl.1009
  • Tewksbury , R. and Mustaine , E. 2006 . Where to find sex offenders: an examination of residential locations and neighborhood conditions . Criminal Justice Studies , 19 : 61 – 75 .
  • Tewksbury , R. and Mustaine , E. 2008 . Where registered sex offenders live: community characteristics and proximity to possible victims . Victims and Offenders , 3 : 86 – 98 .
  • Vazquez , B. , Maddan , S. and Walker , J. 2008 . The influence of sex offender registration and notification laws in America: a time-series analysis . Crime & Delinquency , 54 : 175 – 192 .
  • Zandbergen , P. A. and Hart , T. C. 2006 . Reducing housing options for convicted sex offenders: investigating the impact of residency restriction laws using GIS . Justice Research and Policy , 8 : 1 – 24 .
  • Zgoba , K. and Levenson , J. 2011 . Failure to register as a predictor of sex offense recidivism: the Big Bad Wolf or a Red Herring? . Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment , DOI: 10.1177/1079063211421019
  • Zgoba , K. , Levenson , J. and McKee , T. 2009 . Examining the impact of sex offender residence restrictions on housing availability . Criminal Justice Policy Review , 20 : 91 – 110 .
  • Zgoba , K. , Veysey , B. and Dalessandro , M. 2010 . An analysis of the effectiveness of community notification and registration: do the best intentions predict the best practices . Justice Quarterly , 5 : 667 – 691 .
  • Zgoba , K. forthcoming. A multi-state recidivism study using Static 99 and Static 2002 risk scores and tier guidelines from the Adam Walsh Act. Submitted to the United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
  • Zimring , F. , Piquero , A. and Jennings , W. G. 2007 . Sexual delinquency in Racine: does early sex offending predict later sex offending in youth and adulthood? . Criminology and Public Policy , 6 : 507 – 534 .

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.