The purpose of this study was to extend current knowledge regarding law enforcement’s perceptions of sex offenders. Law enforcement’s views of sex offenders and the fairness and efficacy of sex offender laws were examined through the utilization of a 60 closed-ended question survey. The survey included questions about sex offender myths, sex offender laws, police officers’ experience in working with sex offenders, specialized training, and demographics. The sample consisted of 74 sworn police officers from a Southeastern state. The results showed that, despite having a mostly empirical based view of sex offenders, sworn police officers were likely to support sex offender laws shown by some scholars to be ineffective in reducing crime and at times counterproductive.

Although many research studies about sexual offender registration exist, there is no qualitative study on the perspective of police officers whose job duties include the implementation of Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) laws. The purpose of this case study was to explore specific police officers' perceptions of sex offender registration. Six police officers were hand selected for face-to-face interviews based on their unique job duties that included responsibilities and training related to the implementation of the sexual offender registration and community notification protocols. Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory provided the theoretical framework for this research study. According to study findings, the majority of the police officers in this study supported sexual offender registration despite the lack of research that supports its effectiveness. Data gathered from conducting face-to face interviews with the identified police officers revealed that 5 out of 6 police officers believed that SORN policies had a positive impact on enhancing community safety, and half of the police officers felt that SORN policies reduced recidivism. All of the police officers in the study called for more formal training and education about SORN. Also, these police officers identified money and human power as barriers to proactive efforts or effective management of the sexual offenders who lived in their jurisdiction. Finally, the police officers in this study suggested the use of specialized officers or the creation of a task force as a method to better address the sexual offenders in the community. Exploring these options could have far-reaching implications for positive social change for the law enforcement community and society as a whole.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Stephanie Jerstad, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, presented on January 11, 2022, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.TITLE: CARE FOR THE AGING: LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT PERSONS CONVICTED OF SEXUAL OFFENDING MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Breanne Pleggenkuhle The present study is a multi-pronged approach to examine the willingness of long-term care facilities (LTCF) to accept persons on the sex offender registry or with a sexual offense conviction. First, this dissertation utilizes a statutory analysis to examine all 50 states policies for admitting and managing such individuals in long-term care. Second, the study aims to explain why some states may enact a LTC/SO policy by examining state characteristics, policy and political affiliation. Third, the study sets out to better understand if facility-level characteristics matter to the acceptance of persons on the sex offender registry. And will discuss findings from semi-structured interviews of LTCF administrators of their decision-making processes, and their attitudes towards company policy. The findings of all three levels of analyses are presented and future research is discussed. Keywords: Sex offender, long-term care facility, SORN and residency restriction laws, statutory review, collateral consequences of sex offender policy