Effectiveness of sex offender registration policies in the United States

Governor of Indiana Evan Bayh marks the passage of "Zachary's Law", which requires a statewide Sex Offender Registry, with Sandy Snider, mother of Zachary Snider

Sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws in the United States are widely accepted, with supporters believing that disclosing the location of sex offenders residence improves the public's ability to guard themselves and their children from sexual victimization.[1][2] Despite this wide public acceptance, empirical observations do not uniformly support this belief.

Critics argue that the statistics do not reveal a statistically significant shift in sexual offense trends following the implementation of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) regimes.[3][4][5][6] A few studies indicate that sexual recidivism may have been lowered by SORN policies,[7][8] while a few have found statistically significant increase in sex crimes following SORN implementation.[9][10]

This article is part of a series on the
Sex offender registries
in the United States
Legislation
  • Federal
  • State
  • Other
Constitutionality

Constitutionality of sex offender registries
in the United States

  • Supreme Court decisions
Effectiveness
Social issues
  • Homelessness
  • Controversial designations as offender
Reform activism
  1. ^ Anderson, A. L.; Sample, L. L. (4 April 2008). "Public Awareness and Action Resulting From Sex Offender Community Notification Laws". Criminal Justice Policy Review. 19 (4): 371–396. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.544.7814. doi:10.1177/0887403408316705.
  2. ^ Levenson, Jill S.; Brannon, Yolanda N.; Fortney, Timothy; Baker, Juanita (12 April 2007). "Public Perceptions About Sex Offenders and Community Protection Policies". Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. 7 (1): 070619081026002––. doi:10.1111/j.1530-2415.2007.00119.x.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Levenson, Jill; Tewksbury, Richard (15 January 2009). "Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders" (PDF). American Journal of Criminal Justice. 34 (1–2): 54–68. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.615.3651. doi:10.1007/s12103-008-9055-x.
  4. ^ Vasquez, B. E.; Maddan, S.; Walker, J. T. (26 October 2007). "The Influence of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws in the United States: A Time-Series Analysis". Crime & Delinquency. 54 (2): 175–192. doi:10.1177/0011128707311641.
  5. ^ Zevitz, Richard G. (June 2006). "Sex Offender Community Notification: Its Role in Recidivism and Offender Reintegration". Criminal Justice Studies. 19 (2): 193–208. doi:10.1080/14786010600764567.
  6. ^ Prescott, J.J.; Rockoff, Jonah E. (February 2011). "Do Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws Affect Criminal Behavior?". Journal of Law and Economics. 54 (1): 161–206. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.363.1170. doi:10.1086/658485.
  7. ^ DUWE, GRANT; DONNAY, WILLIAM (May 2008). "The Impact of Megan's Law on Sex Offender Recidivism: The Minnesota Experience". Criminology. 46 (2): 411–446. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00114.x.
  8. ^ "Sex offender sentencing in Washington State: Has community notification reduced recidivism?". Washington State Institute for Public Policy. December 2005.
  9. ^ Office of Justice Programs (2012). "Chapter 8: Sex Offender Management Strategies". Office of Justice Programs - Sex Offender Management and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI).
  10. ^ "Studies question effectiveness of sex offender laws". Science Daily. 30 August 2011.