In 1985 the South African Law Commission published a Report entitled Women and Sexual Offences in South Africa. 1 The Report is the result of almost 3 years' research initiated at the request of the Minister of Justice in 1982. During the period 1979-1981 public attention in South Africa was drawn dramatically to the crime of rape. Media reports focused on the high incidence and brutality of the crime and contributed towards a heightened sense of public anxiety and outrage. Slabbert has argued convincingly that during this period the South African public experienced a “moral panic” regarding rape. Public concern extended to concern for the fate of rape victims and their treatment by the criminal justice agencies. This concern was voiced in Parliament. Questions were put to the Minister regarding the procedures involved in the laying of a rape charge and the medico-forensic aspects of the crime. As a result the Minister requested the South African Law Commission to investigate these matters. The resultant Report was published in April 1985.

About 30 million women in the U.S. are estimated to be victims of sex crimes in their lifetimes. However, sex crimes, especially those committed against immigrants are the least reported crime in the country. Some sex crime victims say the fear of media criticism discourages them from reporting the crime. in May 2011, an African maid working at a New York hotel accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former director of the International Monetary Fund, of sexually assaulting her. This qualitative content analysis examined the coverage of the DSK case, by three leading international newspapers: the New York Times, the Guardian and Le Monde. Findings suggest that Strauss-Kahn received more favorable coverage than Diallo. Frames identified in the coverage include the importance of status/prominence, race, culture differences, victim-blaming, male privilege, socioeconomic differences and focus on appearance. the study recommends that news organizations avoid judgmental coverage of sex crimes and consider identifying victims by allowing them to tell their side of the story.

The principal objective of this study was to examine the proposition, advanced by several authorities, that the views, attitudes and beliefs of the public concerning the sex offender and his offense are characterized by fallacy, stereotype and misconception. That the approach to the problem of the sex offense has been and continues to be primarily legislative is a fact that can be demonstrated; and that legislation reflects and is influenced by public attitudes and beliefs is a premise that can be supported. Hence the accuracy or inaccuracy of these public attitudes and beliefs will have a bearing on the legislation enacted. Yet no systematic study could be discovered by the researchers either validating or invalidating the proposition as stated. It was to this end that the project was undertaken. The method of approach was to establish some factual baseline data about sex offenders and to examine the assumptions of the public about this data. Difficulties in defining both populations, the sex offenders and the public, were met by limiting the former to those individuals admitted to the sex offender program at Oregon State Hospital under any of the provisions of Oregon's "Sexually Dangerous” law, ORS 42.6, and the latter to the first-year graduate social work students at Portland State University. The problem of distinguishing fact from fallacy was handled by limiting the data to recorded and verifiable information drawn from case records. These necessary limitations resulted in the reduction of the above-described proposition to the much narrow hypothesis that beginning social work students at Portland State University will make inaccurate assumptions about the characteristics of the sex offender population at Oregon State Hospital. Although this reduction resulted in some loss of primary value, other secondary gains realized from the study as designed include the compilation of data on a population not heretofore studied and the communication of knowledge and stimulation of interest in areas where knowledge is lacking. This latter factor is of particular importance when the nature of the respondent population is taken into account--they are not only members of the legislation-influencing public, they are future professionals who will be in a position to bring other approaches to bear on the problem of the sex offender and his offense. Procedure consisted of the gathering and tabulation of factual data from the case records of 79 offenders and the use of this information as the basis for construction of a questionnaire-type instrument for assessing the accuracy of the assumptions of the respondents concerning the characteristics of the offender, his offense and his victim(s). The instrument also included 12 statements of attitude claimed to be common misconceptions held by the lay public concerning sex offenders. The most significant finding of the study was that the exploratory hypothesis was not supported. The respondents made fewer inaccurate than accurate assumptions about the sex offender population at Oregon State Hospital. Moreover, they disagreed with 10 out of the 12 attitudinal statements. It is not concluded on the basis of this finding, however, that the initial proposition is therefore invalidated. The atypical character of both populations and the gross nature of the methodology employed preclude such a verdict. On the other hand, it is felt that the secondary benefits have been realized; and that, furthermore, the study represents a meaningful addition to the store of knowledge both about the sex offender and his offense and about public attitudes toward them.

The problem is, what personality changes occur in sex offenders at San Quentin Correctional Institution between the entrance Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the pre-parole Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2002. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Fred Standley, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 16, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MSoSc(AppliedSocialResearch))--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Lana Stermac.

Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 22, 2009). Advisor: Shelley Listwan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-76).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1985. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-267).