Within both the United States and the United Kingdom, laws have been implemented that govern the behavior of individuals convicted of certain sexually based offenses. Thus, research has naturally gravitated toward examining the public perceptions of these laws. Although both the United States and United Kingdom have laws regarding convicted sex offenders, and although these laws vary, research into the perceptions of these laws has largely been concentrated within the United States. The current study seeks to fill this gap through a survey of U.K. residents that assesses their perceptions of the implementation of Sarah’s Law. Respondents were gathered through convenience sampling methods in both Bristol and London, England ( n = 140). Overall, respondents were fairly supportive of Sarah’s Law and its current implementation. However, as opposed to respondents in the United States, U.K. respondents were also open to the idea of providing a degree of privacy to convicted sex offenders and were more tolerant of sexual offenders living near them. Finally, age, race, and parental status of the respondents were found to be statistically significant predictors among four identified dependent variables testing support of the law. Implications from these results are discussed, and a direction for future comparative research is highlighted.
The spatial-temporal analysis of crime has significantly evolved. One innovative technique recently developed is risk terrain modeling (RTM). RTM, however, has yet to be used for environmental crime. This research applies RTM and draws from crime pattern theory to examine illegal activities in two protected areas in Cambodia. Findings suggest that pathways, edges, areas with suitable targets, conservation posts, landcover, and prior incidents are related to fauna- and flora-related illegal activities, though this relationship varies by season, units of analysis, and study area (i.e., patrol-based compared with official designation). Implications for theory and policy are outlined.
Much attention has been paid to the examination of community sentiment regarding convicted sex offenders and the policy that governs these offenders’ behavior. This literature, however, has largely been absent of international comparisons of sex offender community sentiment. The current study seeks to fill this gap by drawing from the results of surveys ( n = 333) conducted in both the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Results indicate that sex offender policy is generally supported in both the US and the UK. Contrary to our expectations, we found that participants from the UK were less tolerant of sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods than participants from the US. Additionally, there is support for the notion that sex offender policy holds a symbolic value for both study locations. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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