In the past two decades, every state in America has enacted some type of sex crime law, including sex offender registration, community notification, residency restrictions, castration policies, mandatory prison sentences for possessing child pornography, and a host of other sanctions. Scholars have noted that sex crime legislation has been "hastily passed" (Fortney, Levenson, Brannon, and Baker, 2007:1) and that "decisions about what to do with sex offenders are often made without the benefit of theoretical insights" (Kruttschnitt, Uggen, and Shelton, 2000:66) and instead have been in reaction to "unusual and compelling cases" (La Fond, 2005:9). Juxtaposed against these observations is the fact that today we know little about most sex crime policies. In particular, we know little about why they emerged and whether they are, or are likely to be, effective in reducing sexual offending and victimization. To this end, the goal of this dissertation is to contribute to scholarship on and debates about sex crime policies by examining five key questions. First, what is the range of the types of sex crime laws nationally? Second, to what extent do Erikson's (1966) and Jensen's (2007) theories about witch hunts explain the emergence of sex crime laws in recent decades? Third, to what extent are sex crime laws based on theory and research? Fourth, is there variation in public views about sex crime laws, especially concerning use of the death penalty for sex offenders? Fifth, does the U.S. Supreme Court use criminological theory and research in reaching decisions about sex crime policy, and if so, does the Court's assessment of theory and research accord with the actual state of the literature? Data for this dissertation come from a variety of sources, including information about state laws from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), national public opinion data examining views about sex offenders from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, and a number of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The dissertation is structured around five substantive chapters that address the five questions above. It concludes with a discussion of the study's implications and future directions for theory, research, and policy. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / June 5, 2009. / Sexual Victimization, Sexual Offending, Sex Crime, Sex Offender Laws / Includes bibliographical references. / Daniel P. Mears, Professor Directing Dissertation; Melissa Radey, Outside Committee Member; Kevin Beaver, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181011 |
| Contributors | Mancini, Christina (authoraut), Mears, Daniel P. (professor directing dissertation), Radey, Melissa (outside committee member), Beaver, Kevin (committee member), College of Criminology and Criminal Justice (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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