Sex Offender Registries as a Tool for Public Safety: Views from Registered Offenders (abstract)

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Online citation: Tewksbury, Richard."Sex offender registries as a tool for public safety: Views from registered offenders." Western Criminology Review 7(1): 1-8 (2006) (http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v07n1/01/sexoffender.html).

Also available in .pdf format with page numbers: Tewksbury, Richard. "Sex offender registries as a tool for public safety: Views from registered offenders." Western Criminology Review 7(1): 1-8 (2006) (http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v07n1/01/sexoffender.pdf).

Sex Offender Registries as a Tool for Public Safety:
Views from Registered Offenders

Richard Tewksbury
University of Louisville

Abstract: Sex offender registries are tools for the public and law enforcement to know about and monitor the identities, locations, and behaviors of convicted sex offenders in the community. The ability of these tools to effectively and efficiently contribute to public safety, however, is dependent on their containing accurate and up-to-date information. This research draws on data from a sample of registered sex offenders to assess the frequency and intensity of monitoring perceived by registrants and registrants’ self-reported likelihood of maintaining their listed information as accurate. Results suggest that monitoring is not very close or frequent, and a significant minority of registered sex offenders may not be willing to comply with registration requirements nor to voluntarily update their registry information.

Keywords: Sex offender registries; sex offenders; community corrections

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