Sex Offender Registries

Question 1

SORNA - Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act

Answer 1

1 - enacted 2006 under Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
2 - provided uniformity across the states
3 - raised standards of reporting
4 - requires sex offenders to register, update information (failure is a criminal act)

Question 2

What are the 3 Sex Offender Levels + Requirements?

Answer 2

Tier 1 - less serious offences (eg child porn, sex assault against adults); information not public; required to provide annual updates about residence

Tier 2 - moderate risk of re-offence and dangerousness; information posted to internet

Tier 3 - most dangerous and likely to re-offend; information posted to internet and published through local media

Question 3

National Sex Offender Registry

Answer 3

1 - National database maintained by RCMP
2 - No public access
3 - Result of SOIRA (Sex Offender Information Registration Act, 2004)

Question 4

What is contained in Canadian police-issued warnings for offenders deemed dangerous and likely to re-offend?

Answer 4

1 - personal information (name, age, photograph, type of offence most likely to be committed)
2 - list of court-ordered conditions
3 - public urged to contact police if conditions breached
4 - vigilante activity discouraged

Question 5

Canadian standards include the following 5 offences:

Answer 5

1 - sexual interference, assault, exploitation
2 - invitation to sexual touching
3 - incest, bestiality, child pornography
4 - parent/guardian selling child for sexual activity
5 - indecent exposure

Question 6

Length of time sex offenders remain registered?

Answer 6

1 - 10 years for offences with 2 and 5 year sentences
2 - 20 years for offences with 10 or 14 year sentences
3 - lifetime for offences with maximum life sentence, or prior convictions, or multiple offences

Question 7

What did the meta-analysis of 82 studies by Hanson and Morton-Bourgon (2005) find about recidivism rates?

Answer 7

1 - overall, 13.7% of sex offenders committed a further offence (avg follow-up time of 5-6 years)
2 - were more likely to recidivist with no sexual offence

Question 8

What did the meta-analysis of 82 studies by Hanson and Morton-Bourgon (2005) find about potential predictors of sexual recidivism?

Answer 8

Strong Predictors:
1 - antisocial orientation (d = .23)
2 - sexual deviancy (d = .30)
3 - sexual attitudes (eg tolerance for sex crime, adult-child sex, low sex knowledge) (d = .16)
4 - intimacy deficits (eg. poor social skills, conflicts in intimate relationships) (d = .15)

Poor Predictors:
1 - general psychological problems
2 - clinical presentation (eg denial, lack of victim empathy)
3 - adverse childhood environment
4 - force/violence of offence

Question 9

Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (where psychopathy is not a personality disorder itself, but a factor in Antisocial Personality Disorder)

Answer 9

1 - a diagnostic tool to rate psychopathic/antisocial tendencies
2 - scores above critical cut-off determine risk level
3 - Factor 1: selfish, callous, uses others without remorse/guilt (subfactors: interpersonal facet, affective facet)
4 - Factor 2: chronically unstable, antisocial, lives socially deviant lifestyle (subfactors: lifestyle facet, antisocial facet)

Question 10

What are Malcolm’s arguments for public registry of sex offenders?

Answer 10

1 - public safety
2 - discourages first-time offending
3 - reduces recidivism

Question 11

What are the main points that support Malcolm’s argument for public safety?

Answer 11

1 - enable public to avoid situations where they might be victimized
2 - police more likely to be notified if offender breaches conditions
3 - parents can protect their children from offenders in their neighbourhood

Question 12

What are the main points supporting Malcolm’s argument that registries discourage first-time offending?

Answer 12

1 - would-be offenders are discouraged from criminal activity by harsh consequences
2 - research suggests small, general deterrent on first time offenders (Napier et al, 2018; Prescott & Rockoff, 2011)

Question 13

What are the main points of Malcolm’s argument that registries reduce recidivism?

Answer 13

1 - encourages offender accountability, since they know the community is watching
2 - Lasher & McGrath (2012) found that 37% of sex offenders agreed that communities were safer, and 74% reported increased motivation not to reoffend, with registries (n = 1503)

Question 14

What is one general argument against Malcolm’s argument that registries lower rates of recidivism?

Answer 14

Actually, recidivism rates are low for sexual offences, and the negatives of registries outweigh benefits and offenders who have paid for their crime deserve to live in peace

Response:
1 - sexual offences cause permanent harm
2 - over the longer term recidivism rates increase
3 - recidivism rates don’t account for unreported crimes so are underestimated (according to Lisa & Miller, 2002 in a study on unreported sexual crimes)

Question 15

What are Carla Shultz’s arguments against public sex offender registries?

Answer 15

1 - unintended consequences
2 - consequences to extended family
3 - labelling theory
4 - registration increases recidivism
5 - decision should not be based on emotional reaction

Question 16

What are the main points for Shultz’s argument for the unintended consequences of registries?

Answer 16

1 - housing problems, banned from living within certain radius of amenities, highly restrictive, does not match pattern of victimization anyway (Robbers, 2009: 35% of registered sex offenders reported having to leave residences because offender status was discovered)

2 - employment (Robbers, 2009: 27% of sex offenders reported losing jobs because of registration) and are ineligible for welfare

3 - mental health problems through discrimination and devaluation and vigilanteism

Question 17

What are the main points of Schultz’s argument that registries have unintended consequences for the family?

Answer 17

1 - family members also subject to housing restrictions
2 - sex offenders’ children might be negatively impacted
3 - survey of family members (Levenson & Tewksbury, 2009) indicated that 27% were victims of property crime, 7% physically assaulted

Question 18

What is the main point of Schultz’s argument that registries support labelling theory?

Answer 18

1 - deviance may occur as a consequence of social reaction

Social/bio/cultural factors -> primary deviation -> labelling -> stigma -> secondary deviation

Question 19

What are the main points for Schultz’s argument that registration and notification increase rates of recidivism?

Answer 19

1 - registration/notification doesn’t reduce rates
2 - Prescott & Rockoff (2011) found it increases rates
3 - Zevitz (2006) found that community notification did not impact re-arrest or post-release behaviour (4.5 year follow-up)

Question 20

What are the main points for Schultz’s argument that the decision about registries should not be based on an emotional reaction?

Answer 20

1 - the public is too obsessed with sex crimes
2 - the media fuels fear of sex offenders in the community
3 - public perceptions are often inaccurate (a: belief that recidivism rates are higher than they are, b: belief that notification increases safety)