societal reaction to sex offenders: a review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability

@article{citeulike:2675128, abstract = {Examination of societal reaction to sexual offenders reveals a history of harshness exemplified by the sexual psychopath laws of the 1930s. The latest round of legal attempts to control sex offenders uses Severe sentencing laws, civil commitment procedures and community notification statutes to confine and shame sex offenders. This paper shows these laws to be based on popular beliefs about the predatory nature of these men, the probability of their re-offense and their amenability to treatment rather than the facts about the sex offenses and offenders. The severe reaction to sexual offenders is a vindictive one based on myth and misunderstanding that serves many interests. The paper exposes the contradictory myths and skewed emotions that guide our view of sex crimes and compares these with the facts about re-offense rates and the effects of treatment.}, author = {Quinn, James F. and Forsyth, Craig J. and Mullen-Quinn, Carla }, citeulike-article-id = {2675128}, doi = {10.1080/01639620490431147}, journal = {Deviant Behavior}, keywords = {children, psychology, risk, sex}, number = {3}, pages = {215--232}, posted-at = {2008-04-15 20:06:32}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, title = {societal reaction to sex offenders: a review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639620490431147}, volume = {25}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2675128 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2675128 TI - societal reaction to sex offenders: a review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability JF - Deviant Behavior VL - 25 IS - 3 SP - 215 EP - 232 PB - Taylor & Francis N2 - Examination of societal reaction to sexual offenders reveals a history of harshness exemplified by the sexual psychopath laws of the 1930s. The latest round of legal attempts to control sex offenders uses Severe sentencing laws, civil commitment procedures and community notification statutes to confine and shame sex offenders. This paper shows these laws to be based on popular beliefs about the predatory nature of these men, the probability of their re-offense and their amenability to treatment rather than the facts about the sex offenses and offenders. The severe reaction to sexual offenders is a vindictive one based on myth and misunderstanding that serves many interests. The paper exposes the contradictory myths and skewed emotions that guide our view of sex crimes and compares these with the facts about re-offense rates and the effects of treatment. KW - children KW - psychology KW - risk KW - sex AU - Quinn, James AU - Forsyth, Craig AU - Mullen-Quinn, Carla PY - 2004/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639620490431147 ER -