Abstract
Public notification laws have been enacted by legislatures to address the risk posed by sex offenders to the public. Little research has been done regarding either the public’s or sex offenders’ knowledge and attitudes about community notification and its impact. This study compared the experiences and perceptions of 125 sex offenders in outpatient treatment to 193 members of the public in Brevard County, Florida. Sex offenders were significantly more likely to believe that community notification laws and society are unfair, to feel that such laws should be applied to fewer sex offenders based on their level of risk or threat, and to view notification as being ineffective at reducing sex crimes. Nearly half of the offenders reported experiencing threats, property damage, or physical assault as a result of public disclosure. In comparison, only 10% of the public was aware of vigilantism against sex offenders. Implications for public policy and future research are discussed.
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Acknowledgement
We thank Chief Charles E. Gowan of the Central Field Operations Division of Driver’s License for giving approval to include samples from the Department of Motor Vehicle offices in Brevard County; to the managers at the Department of Motor Vehicle Driver’s License offices located in Melbourne and N. Melbourne, Florida, the employees for allowing the customers in this study to participate in a supportive environment; those who kindly volunteered to participate in the survey; the following sex offender therapists: Duncan Bowen, Sonya Taylor, Richard McClain, and Dan Decaprio and their clients for their support and completion of the questionnaires; and Katherine Gifford, Amy Gammon, and Ashley Thompson Franklin of Florida Institute of Technology for the help in entering the data.
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Brannon, Y.N., Levenson, J.S., Fortney, T. et al. Attitudes About Community Notification: A Comparison of Sexual Offenders and the Non-offending Public. Sex Abuse 19, 369–379 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11194-007-9055-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11194-007-9055-2