tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/sex-offenders-register-16631/articlesSex offenders register – The Conversation2019-02-19T14:01:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1118612019-02-19T14:01:43Z2019-02-19T14:01:43ZHelping to rehabilitate sex offenders is controversial – but it can prevent more abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259505/original/file-20190218-56226-oadm99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/panorama-therapist-talking-aggressive-young-man-1135926740?src=30ScpO_bZaItoRrEHNyr6A-1-23">Photographee.eu/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it was announced that a centre had opened in Nottingham in February to support the reintegration of people convicted of sexual offences into the community, it understandably caused controversy. </p>
<p>We are both trustees and part of a group who co-founded the charity behind the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/09/university-pioneers-scheme-to-rehabilitate-sex-offenders">Corbett Centre for Prisoner Reintegration</a>, which will offer support and mentoring and help people acquire new skills. The aim is to keep communities safer and reduce reoffending through reintegration – and research shows this approach can be an effective way of achieving this.</p>
<p>But the announcement was met with concern and anger from the public and some <a href="https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/anger-victims-abuse-new-centre-2529833">victims</a> of abuse. </p>
<p>It’s vital that survivors and victims are given the support, care and treatment they need to come to terms with what has happened to them, and to find some healing. Yet, preventing further victims being created and more lives being ruined is a huge social challenge. </p>
<h2>The scale of the problem</h2>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf">15% of the prison population</a>, or 12,750 people, in England and Wales have sexual convictions. A further <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/up-to-10-sex-offenders-released-into-the-community-everyday-new/">50,000 are on the Sex Offenders’ Register</a> – people who offended after the register was introduced in 1997 and currently live in the community. There are thousands more who committed sexual offences before 1997 and approximately 55,000 people thought to be under investigation for committing a sexual offence. Approximately <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/EXH.015.022.0031.pdf">one in ten</a> of those released back into the community will go on to commit another sexual offence.</p>
<p>Society needs to engage seriously with how to reintegrate those who have offended and to stop future offending. The way to do this is by considering the evidence and understanding what does and doesn’t work. But, there is one huge obstacle standing in the way – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178917300265">public opinion and perceptions</a> around this sensitive, emotive and often traumatic topic. If there was a more general sense of public support for rehabilitation this could assist with the reintegration process, which in turn can help keep communities safer.</p>
<h2>What doesn’t work</h2>
<p>There are numerous examples of unproven methods used in the rehabilitation of those with sexual convictions. Such practices tend to be based on “intuitive beliefs” such as it “feels right”, but there is little evidence they reduce reoffending. </p>
<p>Some of the traditional approaches to working with people with sexual convictions have an unproven evidence base. These include programmes that focus on encouraging <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1079063212455669">victim empathy</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260513511530">tackling denial</a>, rather than on skills to lead a good and better life. While getting a person to admit to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178912000213">their offending feels right</a>, for example, it’s not related to reducing reoffending. </p>
<p>Notification schemes that enable members of the public to request information about people who are in contact with their child, also “feel” like a good idea. They may bring comfort to people, but there is limited evidence for their effectiveness and some to suggest they are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0093854810363570">ineffective</a>.</p>
<p>Research in the US shows that for most offenders, prison doesn’t reduce <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032885511415224">reoffending</a> and harsh environments can also have a negative impact upon both prisoners and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306624X10388383">staff</a>. </p>
<p>For those with sexual convictions, prison can be a brutal experience dominated by a struggle for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306624X05275829">survival</a>. While the public are naturally concerned that once somebody is a sex offender they will always be a sex offender, this is <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-47339-001">not always the case</a>. </p>
<p>While it may seem publicly appealing to put convicted sex offenders in prison for long periods and to make that experience hostile, this doesn’t work to reduce risk of reoffending and may instead increase their risk by increasing <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/cjccj55&div=25&g_sent=1&casa_token=sti7SIz7ymoAAAAA:dsBfdwnq_UxsSXjzlBkhMItHkdbxAi64Ha7lcJBht0vll1FB9iMQ9XpECdsieMAqpn_RSmE&collection=journals">social isolation</a>. In our own research, we found that prisons that only house those with sexual convictions allowed <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306624X14553227">people the “headspace”</a> to change. Research has also shown that prisons with a more therapeutic climate are more likely to help those with sexual convictions address their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093854813520544">offending behaviour</a> and make personal changes – which could reduce reoffending.</p>
<h2>What does work</h2>
<p>Some of the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13552600.2013.870242?needAccess=true">key factors</a> that lead people to reoffend are social and emotional isolation, emotional immaturity, and general problems relating to others. Having a job, or something meaningful to do in your life, can help to protect people against a downward spiral that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0264550515600545">leads to sexual reoffending</a>. </p>
<p>Research shows that interventions with people with sexual convictions appear to be more effective in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-015-9241-z">community than in prison</a>, which is why there is a real need for better community reintegration and rehabilitation. </p>
<p>This is why initiatives such as <a href="https://www.circles-uk.org.uk/">Circles of Support and Accountability</a> (CoSA) have been shown to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1079063212453942">work</a>. In these interventions, between three and five trained volunteers provide social, emotional and practical support for high-risk sexual offenders. In one evaluation in Minnesota, those taking part in a CoSA programme had their risk of rearrest for a sexual offence <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-018-9325-7">reduced by 88%</a>. </p>
<p>Sexual abuse can destroy lives and devastate families. Victims of sexual crimes should be given access to the help and support they need for their recovery as a priority. But funding is also needed for programmes and interventions that can prevent future victims. “Helping” sex offenders may feel like a bitter pill to swallow, but if the prescription is based on robust evidence, the end result will be fewer victims of sexual crime. This is something that benefits everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span> Nicholas Blagden is affiliated with the Safer Living Foundation charity which works to prevent sexual offending and reoffending. As Associate Head of the Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit, he receives funding to research people with sexual convictions and evaluate interventions with this group</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Belinda Winder is affiliated with the Safer Living Foundation charity which works to prevent sexual offending and reoffending. As Head of the Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit, she receives funding to research people with sexual convictions and evaluate interventions with this group.</span></em></p>What research shows does and doesn’t work to prevent people convicted of sexual offences from reoffending.Nicholas Blagden, Associate Professor Psychology & Associate Head of Sexual Offences Crime and Misconduct Research Unit, Nottingham Trent UniversityBelinda Winder, Professor of Forensic Psychology & Head of the Sexual Offences, Crime and Misconduct Research Unit, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1095732019-01-10T03:26:27Z2019-01-10T03:26:27ZSex offender registries don’t prevent re-offending (and vigilante justice is real)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253159/original/file-20190110-32148-1s3ufbz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Notifications of child sex offenders living in the area have, in some cases, created community hysteria and loss of sleep.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Calls for public access to information about convicted child sex offenders <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/15/nt-to-introduce-controversial-daniels-law-online-sex-offenders-register">occur often</a> in Australia. It may seem like common sense that allowing the public to know the whereabouts of dangerous people should increase community safety. As in many areas of criminal justice, the real story is more complicated.</p>
<p>Home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-09/peter-dutton-proposes-national-database-of-sex-offenders/10701202">recent call</a> to have the states agree to a publicly accessible register reflects this kind of common sense view. All Australian states already have registers and the National Child Offender System (<a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/our-services/child-protection/national-child-offender-system">NCOS</a>) allows police to record and share child offender information across states. </p>
<p>Child sex offenders are required to keep police informed of their address and other personal details for a period of time (which varies across states and the nature of convictions) after they are released into the community. But in most Australian states, these details are not available to the public.</p>
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<p>Besides the political appeal of being seen to crack down on crime, evidence shows public sex offender registers do more harm than good. The Australian Institute of Criminology <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi550">recently reviewed</a> the latest evidence from Australia and overseas on the effectiveness of public and non-public sex offender registries. The report concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>while public sex offender registries may have a small general deterrent effect on first time offenders, they do not reduce recidivism. Further, despite having strong public support, they appear to have little effect on levels of fear in the community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A 2011 US paper <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658483?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">compared research</a> on offending rates of sex offenders who appear on public registers and those don’t. It detected little difference in rates of re-offending between the two groups. These registers can have other, unintended, consequences including creating community panic and vigilante attacks.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-causes-of-paedophilia-and-child-sexual-abuse-are-more-complex-than-the-public-believes-94915">The causes of paedophilia and child sexual abuse are more complex than the public believes</a>
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<h2>Where public registers are available</h2>
<p>Among Australian states, the South Australian police website has hosted a <a href="https://www.police.sa.gov.au/your-safety/crime-prevention-and-security/wanted-child-sex-offender">public access register</a> since 2014 for sex offenders who have failed to report to police or given false information, and whose whereabouts are unknown. Western Australia <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/service/security/law-enforcement/access-registered-sex-offender-information">recently introduced</a> a register of sex offenders with limited access to the public. The scheme provides:</p>
<ul>
<li>photographs and personal details of offenders who have either failed to comply with their reporting obligations, provided false or misleading information to police and whose whereabouts aren’t known to police</li>
<li>photographs of dangerous and high risk offenders in the searchers’ local suburb or surrounding suburbs</li>
<li> a parent or guardian with an avenue to inquire about a specific person who has regular contact with their child.</li>
</ul>
<p>The US, South Korea and the Maldives are the only countries that <a href="https://smart.gov/pdfs/global-survey-2016-final.pdf">allow public access</a> to sex offender registers. Open public registers have existed under federal legislation in the US since 1994, but the legislation is <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/the-complexities-of-sex-offender-registries.aspx">inconsistently applied</a> across states. New York State, for instance, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/the-complexities-of-sex-offender-registries.aspx">refuses to fully comply</a> with the register, preferring an evidence-based approach where judges use risk assessment tools to place offenders into categories. </p>
<p>Maintenance of registries is also often expensive and information may not be updated due to lack of resources. </p>
<h2>Community safety vs panic</h2>
<p>Knowing where convicted sex offenders live may allow people to believe they can organise their and their children’s lives to reduce the risk of harm. This may be attractive to politicians seeking to tap into people’s wish to protect their children. But the Australian Institute of Criminology review concluded registries had no appreciable effect on levels of fear in the community.</p>
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<p>Conversely, some <a href="https://elibrary.law.psu.edu/jlia/vol2/iss2/8/">researchers have considered</a> whether registries actually do the opposite and magnify safety fears. In 2007, residents of an upstate New York town displayed what the researchers called “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/">community-wide hysteria</a>”, including sleeping difficulties, after notification about sex offenders living nearby.</p>
<p>Others have raised concerns access to registers may lead to a false sense of security and <a href="https://ccoso.org/sites/default/files/residencerestrictionsFL.pdf">perpetuate myths</a> about “stranger danger” when most child sex offenders are known by, and are often related to, the victim. Some Australian <a href="https://clant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Daniels_Law_121115.pdf">groups have expressed concerns</a> that publication in small communities may mitigate against reporting, as well as identify and stigmatise victims. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-offender-registers-dont-mean-we-can-assume-children-are-safe-39188">Sex offender registers don't mean we can assume children are safe</a>
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<p>Public registers can <a href="https://www.nber.org/digest/jun06/w12253.html">affect real-estate prices</a> too, and <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/5020-sex-offender-exclusion-zones">create ghettoes</a> by establishing multiple exclusion zones.</p>
<h2>Vigilante justice</h2>
<p>It’s easy to dismiss concerns about rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the community. But if one considers preventing crime to be the primary aim of criminal justice, then rehabilitation is important to protect the community. Sex offenders are the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639620490431147?src=recsys">most stigmatised group</a> of offenders – both <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265697965_Stigmatized_among_the_Stigmatized_Sex_Offenders_in_Canadian_Penitentiaries">in prison</a> and after release. Exclusion and virtual exile on release from prison provide further barriers to rehabilitation.</p>
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<p>The risk of vigilantism is real too, despite <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/daniel-morcombe-murder-proves-the-need-sex-offenders-register-says-derryn-hinch-20140317-34xkh.html">Derryn Hinch’s claims</a> to the contrary. In Tennessee, in September 2007, a man’s wife died after two neighbours set their house on fire. This was believed to have been prompted by the man’s recent charges for possession of <a href="https://azdailysun.com/news/national/men-accused-of-setting-fire-after-learning-of-child-porn/image_5f4eadd5-97e7-5d58-b315-f5157c77487a.html">child pornography</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1043986204271676">one US study</a>, up to 15% of respondents reported being physically assaulted after being publicly identified as sex offenders, and about 19% of sex offenders reported negative effects had been experienced by other members of their households. One-third of the offenders in the study had experienced physical threats. Another <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639625.2017.1420459?journalCode=udbh20">study found</a> 5% of attacks (some fatal) were on people with no history of child sex offending, possibly due to incorrect information on the registers.</p>
<p>While the idea of public access to identifying information about convicted child sex offenders is attractive, there is little evidence it improves public safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maggie Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It may seem that having a public register which shows the whereabouts of dangerous people would keep the community safe. But evidence shows public sex offender registers do more harm than good.Maggie Hall, Adjunct Lecturer, UNSW, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/798182017-08-09T00:28:28Z2017-08-09T00:28:28ZAre sex offender registries reinforcing inequality?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181452/original/file-20170808-21888-19cfwbh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grounds of Hand Up Ministries in Oklahoma City houses sex offenders.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public sex offender registries are at the forefront of what I’ve described in my research as a “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-war-on-sex">war on sex</a>.”</p>
<p>Offenders convicted of sex crimes are now <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1456042">singled out</a> for surveillance and restrictions far more punitive than those who commit other types of crime. More than <a href="http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/Sex_Offenders_Map.pdf">800,000</a> Americans are now registered sex offenders. Tracking them has created a booming surveillance industry. </p>
<p>In my work on sex offender registries, I have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">found</a> that black men in the U.S. were registered at rates twice that of white men – resembling disparities found in the criminal justice system at large. However, these findings speak to the scope of the problem of American sex offender registries, as approximately 1 percent of black men in the U.S. are now registered sex offenders. My research suggests that inequality is deeply tied to sex offender policies.</p>
<h2>Marked for life</h2>
<p>Studies have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">found</a> that rates in sex offender registration have ballooned more than 24 percent between 2005 and 2013. I wondered, is this in line with other trends in American corrections? </p>
<p>Data show it is not.</p>
<p>Although the U.S. still incarcerates far more people than any other country in the world, correctional supervision rates in the U.S. (including people in jail or prison as well as those on parole or probation) <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus12.pdf">peaked in 2007</a> and have been declining since, albeit at a molasses pace. That means sex offender registries have grown while the prison population has shrunk.</p>
<p>Imagine being punished for something you did three decades ago. You served your time and thought it was in the past. Under American sex offender laws, moving on is nearly impossible: Most state policies are retroactive, meaning they apply to offenders who committed offenses before these laws were put in place. While these laws are the subject of several ongoing <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2017/07/21/Pennsylvania-Supreme-Court-rules-sex-offender-registration-punitive/stories/201707200196">court battles</a>, most remain in effect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181454/original/file-20170808-17173-rjoko0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sex offender registry board image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Steven Senne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Offenders are subject to extensive public notification requirements, which include state-run search engine listings that feature their address, mugshot, criminal history and demographic information. In some cases, offenders are also required to publicly post flyers with their pictures or run newspaper notices advertising their residency. Some states, such as Louisiana, <a href="http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=97429">stamp</a> “SEX OFFENDER” in large red script on driver’s licenses.</p>
<p>Having a mugshot disseminated across internet search engines is only the tip of the iceberg; once registered, offenders are subject to a wide array of housing and employment restrictions.</p>
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<p>In many places in the U.S., sex offenders are effectively zoned out of cities and towns because there are no residential areas that satisfy all of the numerous regulations. For example, offenders may be prohibited from living within a certain number of feet from a playground. </p>
<p>They are often left with no choice but to live <a href="https://www.ccjrnh.org/sex_offender_laws_treatment/testimony_hb_1153_stop_towns_limiting_where_people_convicted_sex_crimes_">under highways</a> or in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/sex-offender-city/307907/">improvised communities</a>, such as the one in Pahokee, Florida depicted in the New York Times 2013 short film, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002235938/sex-offender-village.html">Sex Offender Village</a>.”</p>
<h2>Why have registries?</h2>
<p>Punishment scholar Jonathan Simon <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2000.tb00318.x/full">argues</a> that the rise of sex offender registries is the result of lawmakers’ efforts to “govern through crime.” In other words, today’s lawmakers assert their authority by enforcing order and promoting fear of crime. This approach differs from, say, politicians who secure authority by promoting a social welfare agenda and social safety net.</p>
<p>Lawmakers offer a different explanation. They argue that more invasive policies are necessary because sex offenders are highly likely to commit <a href="http://www.wlox.com/story/20970525/lawmaker-wants-tracking-devices-on-certain-sex-offenders">future crimes</a>. In their view, informing the public of their criminal history will offer protection. But as the U.S. federal government’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking notes, <a href="https://www.smart.gov/SOMAPI/sec1/ch8_strategies.html">sex offender registration</a> requirements “have been implemented in the absence of empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness.”</p>
<p>Now that all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have developed such registries, the evidence testing the effectiveness of sex offender registries is beginning to mount. It is mixed, at best.</p>
<h2>Do registries work?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786010600764567?journalCode=gjup20">One study</a> followed sex offenders who were labeled “high-risk” for reoffending and who were released from Wisconsin prisons in the late 1990s. That study compared offenders who were subjected to limited public notification requirements with those who were subjected to extensive requirements. The researchers found no significant difference in the average time between release and a future offense. In other words, extensive public notification did not deter future offenses.</p>
<p>However, another <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00114.x/abstract">study</a> evaluated the likelihood of reoffending for sexual offenders labeled “high risk” released from Minnesota state correctional facilities. Here researchers found that offenders subject to community notification were somewhat less likely to commit another sexual offense. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759428">a recent study</a> found that sex offenders released in Florida between 1990 and 2010 had lower rates of recidivism than offenders of other types of crime – 6.5 percent for sex offenses, as compared to 8.3 percent for nonsexual assaults and 29.8 percent for drug offenses. Moreover, that study found that recidivism rates increased after the state legislature implemented sex offender registration requirements in 1997. </p>
<p>While the evidence is mixed that these policies are effective at deterring crime, the evidence of their collateral consequences is more consistent. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1478601X.2012.657906?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=gjup20">Several</a> <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3818/JRP.9.1.2007.59">studies</a> of registered sex offenders have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19561135">revealed</a> how registries reinforce class inequality by creating patterned experiences of unemployment, harassment and homelessness.</p>
<p>From a public safety perspective, scholars note that registries provide the public with a false sense of security: While the existence of sex offender registries reinforces a myth of “<a href="https://ccoso.org/sites/default/files/residencerestrictionsFL.pdf">stranger danger</a>,” most offenders in reality are acquaintances or family members. Balancing the thin support of the registries’ effectiveness against the more robust evidence of their negative effects, one scholar recently <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/">concluded</a> these policies do more harm than good.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12189/abstract">research</a> suggests there is also a racialized dimension to the war on sex offenders that complicates arguments in their favor. The evidence does not strongly suggest registries are effective at deterring crime. Rather, their most lasting impact may be their exacerbation of inequalities based on race, class and gender.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79818/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor Hoppe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Beginning in the 1990s, all 50 US states and Washington, DC created public sex offender registries. Do they do more to help or hurt?Trevor Hoppe, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/391882015-05-05T03:35:01Z2015-05-05T03:35:01ZSex offender registers don’t mean we can assume children are safe<p>The sexual abuse of children remains one of the most urgent and unremitting issues across the globe. The <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/">royal commission</a> into sexual abuse of children in institutions has given currency to an entrenched and critical social problem. However, our newly published research into Australia’s first publicly accessible register of sex offenders highlights the dangers of public misunderstanding of how it works and, indeed, of where the risks for children are greatest.</p>
<p>While many see the royal commission as an unprecedented examination of child sexual abuse in Australia, the reality is that it avoids any focus or recognition of where most of this abuse occurs, which is within a family setting. This is extremely important: it means that a child is most vulnerable in the context where the utmost safety is expected as well as assumed.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding this concern, the royal commission and recently completed state inquiries into abuse in institutional settings mean sex offenders outside of the family institution – their crimes, modus operandi and propensity to repeat offend without detection – are very much to the fore in public and political discourse.</p>
<p>Alongside these debates sits the issue of managing convicted sex offenders. Countries have established “sex offender registries” whereby certain types of offenders are listed and required to inform police of their residence, work status and other movements.</p>
<p>In the US, <a href="http://www.homefacts.com/offenders/California.html">California</a> first implemented a sex offender registry in the 1940s. The model is now established across every US state. It was not until the mid-1990s and into the first decade of the new century that countries like the UK, Canada and Australia implemented such registries.</p>
<h2>Australia late in adopting public offender registers</h2>
<p>In 2012, Western Australia <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-14/new-sex-offender-register-to-be-launched-in-western-australia/4312280">was the first</a> of the Australian states or territories to permit public access to specific areas of the sex offender register. This was done through the <a href="https://www.communityprotection.wa.gov.au/About">Community Protection Website</a> (CPW). <a href="https://www.ecu.edu.au/research/news/2013/06/ecu-researchers-examine-was-online-sex-offender-registry">Our research</a> undertook the first ever study on persons who have used it. </p>
<p>Countries such as the US and Canada pioneered public access to their registers and/or notification to the local community as to the identity and whereabouts of convicted child sex offenders living in their area. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19074256">Research</a> from the US, Canada and the UK has found that public support for such registers is linked to feelings that the community is “safer” because they can access this knowledge. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-2415.2007.00119.x/full">Recent survey-based US studies</a> identified significantly high levels of support for public knowledge of the whereabouts of convicted offenders in their neighbourhood on the basis that they felt “safe” and believed it would reduce re-offending.</p>
<p>However much law enforcement and the general public welcome these management tools, little evidence exists that these deter repeat or first-time offenders. Despite enhancing a sense of control and security among community members, sex-offender registers seem to have done little to actually protect children.</p>
<h2>How does the WA model work?</h2>
<p>WA Police operate and monitor the CPW. The announcement and launch of the website <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/10/17/the-ethics-of-permanent-public-shaming-of-s-x-offenders/">prompted debate</a> and criticism from <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/moves-to-change-laws-to-give-parents-access-to-dangerous-sexoffenders8217-information/story-fnihsrf2-1226668958989">civil libertarians</a> and others. These <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-15/premier-defends-sex-offenders-register/4314332">critics claimed</a> that any public access to information about repeat child sex offenders was:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>an invasion of privacy and a violation of the human rights of offenders</p></li>
<li><p>would lead to vigilantism</p></li>
<li><p>would prevent the rehabilitation of repeat child sex offenders.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The CPW operates differently to many other public sex offender registries. The WA government established clear parameters on the level of information that the public could access.</p>
<p>The register has built-in security as well as safety mechanisms requiring anyone seeking information first to provide details of their identity and residence. As such, members of the public could seek information only about a convicted repeat offender already on the register living in the vicinity of their community. This process enabled police to tag any information released and monitor any misuse of the information.</p>
<h2>What did the WA study find?</h2>
<p>In the latter part of 2013, researchers at the Social Justice Research Centre at Edith Cowan University surveyed people who have accessed the CPW. A total of 162 adults, the majority from WA, completed a 40-item online questionnaire. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/650103/CPW-Survey-Final-Report-November-2014.pdf">The study found</a> that the majority were in favour of the CPW on the basis that it provided them information to better protect their children and themselves. That said, fewer people agreed (32.1%) than disagreed (44.5%) that the website protected children from convicted sex offenders. Significantly fewer agreed (13.6%) than disagreed (54.9%) that the website could prevent child sexual abuse. </p>
<p>Of the respondents, 16%, the majority of them males, expressed a view that the CPW stigmatises offenders. However, 92% believed that protecting children from sexual victimisation was a community responsibility.</p>
<p>The most frequent criticism of the website was linked to the availability of information – or lack thereof. People felt they did not get enough information about individual offenders. They were also frustrated that they could seek information only about an offender living in their vicinity.</p>
<p>The vast majority believed that every type of sex offender should be on a publicly available register. This indicates that access to relevant information enhances the community’s sense of security in this context. </p>
<p>The survey did reveal that many people had misconceptions about the website and its purpose. For example, a request for information about child sex offenders in their neighbourhood that returned no details was taken to mean none lived in that locale. Such a conclusion is erroneous and could be potentially dangerous. </p>
<p>Many respondents took the absence of a registered offender as evidence they were living in a community free of child abusers. As such it fostered a false sense of security.</p>
<p>In fact, at the time of completing the study, WA had about 3,000 registered sex offenders. Only 82 had their details available for public access <a href="https://www.communityprotection.wa.gov.au/">on the CPW</a>. Thus, finding no information on the CPW must not be taken to mean that there are no child sex offenders in one’s neighbourhood.</p>
<p>Specific criteria must be met for an offender to be listed on the CPW, which includes being a repeat offender. That is someone already on the list of “registered offenders” monitored by police and correctional agencies who has committed another sexual offence and is therefore a serious repeat offender posing risk. Juvenile offenders are not included on the list.</p>
<h2>If CPW doesn’t track all offenders, what use is it?</h2>
<p>It could be argued that the CPW promotes community awareness and may be a useful platform for intelligence gathering and engagement for police. Further, it can be suggested that a community that is more aware would be more vigilant in monitoring the safety of their and others’ children.</p>
<p>However, survey respondents did express three areas of concern:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>that the absence of an identified offender via the CPW could lead to a false sense of security</p></li>
<li><p>that the majority of offenders are not likely to be detected</p></li>
<li><p>that the majority of sexual offending against children occurs in the family context.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Given the ground-breaking nature of the CPW as a buffer against community concerns about the prevalence and life-long trauma related to child sexual abuse, it is vital that more is done if the website is to achieve its objectives. Community education about the prevalence of child sexual abuse and its impacts as well as the modus operandi of offenders is urgently needed. Providing such education would complement the CPW.</p>
<p>Finally, it will provide people with greater confidence to act on suspicions as well as direct knowledge. It must be hoped that leads the public to readily report relevant information appropriately to enhance the protection of children everywhere.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Western Australia was the first state in the nation to allow public access to a sex offender register online. The public needs to understand how it works to avoid a false sense of security.Caroline Taylor, Adjunct professor, Edith Cowan UniversityEyal Gringart, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Leader, Psychology within the School of Psychology and Social Science, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.