Sex offenders and sex crimes provoke a great deal of anxiety in our society, and over the past decade, lawmakers have passed a variety of social policies designed to protect the public from sexual victimization. The purpose of this study was to examine public perceptions about sex offenders and community protection policies. Data were obtained from a sample of 193 residents in Melbourne, Florida. It was hypothesized that the public holds some inaccurate beliefs about sex offenders, and that there is strong public support for community protection policies. It was found that community members believe that sex offenders have very high recidivism rates, view sex offenders as a homogeneous group with regard to risk, and are

This study examines the views of 261 sexual abuse professionals regarding sex crime policies. Few participants believe that community notification is very effective in reducing sex offenses, but about half believe that all sex offenders should be subject to public disclosure. About one quarter of respondents opine that sex offenders should not be allowed to live in their communities, but a majority do not view residential housing restrictions for sex offenders as effective at reducing recidivism. Most believe in the helpfulness of therapeutic intervention. More than half say that they will support sex offender policies even without scientific evidence of their effectiveness. Criminal justice professionals are more likely to approve of these laws compared to mental health professionals. Those with more conservative political leanings also favor more restrictive policies. There are few differences attributable to gender, parenting status, or victimization experiences.

This study examined the relations between community type, race, and the types of neighboring behaviors in which residents engage, with a random sample of 1,367 participants from urban, suburban, and rural areas of a southeastern state. Analyses controlled for several variables that are believed to influence neighboring. The multivariate analyses indicated a main effect for the type of community. However, the effect was contingent on the type of neighboring and disappeared once the covariates were included in the model. Similarly, main effects of race were found with African Americans engaging in more surveillance and Caucasians engaging in more social neighboring. The implications of these findings framing additional research on race and community type are discussed.

Public notification laws have been enacted by legislatures to address the risk posed by sex offenders to the public. Little research has been done regarding either the public's or sex offenders' knowledge and attitudes about community notification and its impact. This study compared the experiences and perceptions of 125 sex offenders in outpatient treatment to 193 members of the public in Brevard County, Florida. Sex offenders were significantly more likely to believe that community notification laws and society are unfair, to feel that such laws should be applied to fewer sex offenders based on their level of risk or threat, and to view notification as being ineffective at reducing sex crimes. Nearly half of the offenders reported experiencing threats, property damage, or physical assault as a result of public disclosure. In comparison, only 10% of the public was aware of vigilantism against sex offenders. Implications for public policy and future research are discussed.

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