Are Sex Offender Registries Effective?
Understanding a Sex Offender Registry's Purpose and Limitations
Let's break it down more simply. Let's pretend that we create a registry of orthopedic surgeons in the United States. With this registry I can keep track of all the surgeons in the United States. If a natural disaster arises like the 2010 Haiti Earthquake Catastrophe then I will be able to quickly and efficiently contact all the orthopedic surgeons to find surgeons willing to serve in Haiti immediately following the disaster.
So what would a national orthopedic registry do?
1) It tracks all the qualified orthopedic surgeons
2) It can be a resource for other people to check or use when seeking a qualified orthopedic surgeon in the United States.
Now let's apply this to sex offender registries. Sex offender registries are designed to track the sex offenders who meet certain qualifications and criteria for the sex offender registries. Sex offender registries can be an excellent efficient resource to allow police officers and detectives to access after crimes have taken place.
The most important benefit of the sex offender registries to the average citizen is the ability to warn residents of the presence of a sex offender in a specified area. The registries have been designed to easily allow any citizen with Internet access to search for sex offenders thus providing a effective warning system of the presence of local sex offenders.
If a child is missing or has been found sexually assaulted or murdered, then the police can check all the local sex offenders within 5 miles, in the city, or in the state. Sometimes this leads to the guilty one, unless the sex offender is a new offender, one that has moved and was not effectively tracked, or this sex offender has never been prosecuted and has lots of victims who have not come forward.
Sex offender registries work as a warning system because they are like bright flashing yellow warning lights. If a sex offender lives in your neighborhood, don't let your children be alone at the bus stop or ride bikes alone or even with other children. Children are no match for sex offenders even in pairs or groups.
Many rapes last under 10 minutes and then the victims, whether little girls or little boys, teens, children, women or men, can be killed in a few seconds. Rapists and murderers have killed victims with their own socks, so it is not wise to feel a false sense of security. Don't give your children a false sense of security either about being a certain age, size, or having martial arts expertise, victims come in all shapes and sizes with diverse backgrounds.
Sex offender registries are the best the government can do until the citizens are fed up enough and hurt enough to be willing to permanently lock up sex offenders or murderers-and be willing to pay for it. Most states don't have any permanent residential institutions and many state jails and prisons face overcrowding issues. Unfortunately, sometimes sex offenders are released early placing them back on the streets and in neighborhoods. As long as human and sexual predators are allowed to roam the streets there will be many more victims.
It is highly unlikely that sex offenders will change because of jail or prison sentences, since this factor alone is not able to change or cure their thought processes, behaviors or habits. According to the to the Department of Justice National Conference on Sex Offender Registries, "they are the least likely to be cured;" "they are the most likely to reoffend;" and "they prey on the most innocent members of our society." More than likely, a sex offender will attempt to avoid caught the next time. How? Instead of molesting a 6 year old who can talk, they molest a baby who can't tell. Or they rape and kill a prostitute instead of a school girl. Why? By the time people realize a prostitute is missing, the killer is long gone. The sex offender or sexual predator just chooses his or her next victim more carefully.
So when we understand what a sex offender registry is and what it is designed to do, we can see that the registries are very effective when the offenders are successfully tracked. The sex offenders and their families-who are usually in denial-typically fight tracking by sex offender registries. Many sex offenders also move repeatedly due to unstable employment or to specifically attempt to interrupt the tracking. Other sex offenders petition to get off the registries for various reasons. And there are even sex offenders who choose to work in fields such as interstate trucking so that they can commit crimes while on the job and on the move which makes it more difficult to catch them.
References:
United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), National Conference on Sex Offender Registries (National Conference), 93, April 1998 cited on page 11, Supreme Court Brief Glenn G. Godfrey M. Botelho, Petitioners vs. John Doe I. ET AL, Department of Justice
Interview with Michael K. Harrigan by AMW, Deadly Double Lives Murder on the Open Road - Interview with the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, America's Most Wanted
Published by Heather Inks
Heather is a social entrepreneur who educates on how to improve communities & the world. Heather's site has crafts, home improvement ideas, & social issues: www.HeatherInks.com She's an active writer, teache... View profile
Do Sex Offender Registries Inhibit Violent Sex Offenders from Striking A...A sex offender registry is designed to track sex offenders and warn citizens of the local presence of a sex offender, not to punish sex offenders or inhibit sex offenders from c...- Top Three Sex Offender RegistriesArticle provides information on where to search sex offender registries.
- Sex Offender Registries: Who Has to RegisterSex offender registries are good tools for parents; however, it is important to understand their limitations.
How the Sex Offender Registry Fails Us AllThe Sex Offender Registry...such a great idea! Protect all of our children from nasty perverts and keep them safe! Right? Wrong! - Child Care Workers & the Use of Sex Offender Registry DatabasesIf your child is being placed in a daycare or child care facility, it is important to ask many questions but specifically ask about the extent to which the center uses sex offender registry for visitors to the location.
- Are Sex Offender Registries Effective?
- Sex Offender Registration: The Hidden Secrets
- The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website
- Sex Offender Registry and Sex Offender Laws and Why They Are Failing ALL of Us
- Sex Offender Registries
- National Sex Offender Registry: Family Watchdog and Other Solutions
- A Guide to Florida's Newly Released Sex Offender-Alert Web Site
- United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Website: www.nsopw.gov/Core/OffenderSearchCriteria.aspx
- How to Report Marital Rape and Sexual Assault: www.ehow.com/how_4917247_report-marital-rape-sexual-assault.html
- Rape, Abuse & Incest Network - 1 800 656 HOPE available 24/7 Free and Confidential: www.rainn.org/
- All registries of any kind are simply a tracking system.
- Sex offender registries are designed to track the sex offenders who meet certain qualifications.
- Sex offender registries can be accessed by any citizen with Internet access.
13 Comments
Post a CommentI think perhaps you should have done considerably more research before posting your article. You state that,
"Sex offenders and their families-who are usually in denial-typically fight tracking by sex offender registries. Many sex offenders also move repeatedly due to unstable employment or to specifically attempt to interrupt the tracking. Other sex offenders petition to get off the registries for various reasons."
You have obviously never even met someone who has had to live with being on the registry. It is NOT simply a list similar to one you would use to find a physician as you so "graciously" (BIG eye-roll) put it, nor are all on the registry because they are "most likely to re-offend", "least likely to be cured", or "prey on the most innocent of our society".
Your blanket statement that offenders and their families are "usually in denial" is laughable at best. For the last decade this list has been destroying the lives of literally millions of INNOCENT people.
I have to agree that sex offender registries aren't effective at all. But I am not sure you realize that registered sex offenders are not allowed to move without permission. And sex offenders or any felon could not leave the state without permission, thus I could not see any registered sex offender getting a job as trucker. And burglars and drug abusers are actually have the highest recidivism rates. I also feel like you missed some other key points on why they do not work, but then again you aren't a expert on the correctional system so it would be foolish for someone to only read this article and think this is the final say on the matter. Hell, I could put out a better article on sex offender registries than you.
wow.. this article is garbage. It is all about educating your kids and family to be aware. Parents do need to take responsibility for their kids and watch where they go. I agree that some people on the registry do need to be there and be monitored, but most sex offenses are carried out by those the child/victim knows (close family friend or family member). I am not against the registry, but not all those who are on it should be there! Studies have shown that sex offenders have the LOWEST recidivism and why do we single them out? While we are at it, we may as well have a Drug offender registry, a DUI registry, a burglary registry, etc...so we know everything about everyone.
What ever happened to forgiveness and human compassion? most (i believe) made a simple mistake (like having sex w/ girlfriend who said she was over 18, but isn't) and they are on the registry--honestly!
The registry is just a way for congressmen to get votes and support, when the registries do MORE HARM THAN GO
Hate it when your comment gets cut off. Don't focus on sex offenders, watch everybody and educate your kids. And you might want to read the USDOJ publication at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf. Recidivism of sex offenders 5.3%, child molesters 5.1%.
While you are tracking and watching registered sex offenders in your neighborhood, consider this. The person named by John Walsh (Tears of Rage, Pocket Books, 1997) and in 2008 by the Hollywood (FL) police as the person most likely responsible for Adam Walsh's death, WAS NOT A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER! The persons who abducted Elizabeth Smart, and murdered Carlie Brucia, Danielle Van Dam and Samantha Runnion WERE NOT CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS. The person charged with the abduction and murder of Sommer Thompson IS NOT A CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER. The USDOJ reports that 93% of sexual assault against persons under age 18 is committed by a family member or someone the victim knows. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf
Then remember this, again from John Walsh's "Tears of Rage". If Adams mother had not left him at a video game display while she went just around the corner, out of sight, for just five or ten minutes, that tragedy would not have happened. Don't focus on sex offen
Interesting information about sex offender registries..
A sex offender registry is a tracking tool just like the "surgeon registry" example in the article on pg 1. It is for information, it does not prevent sex offenders from committing crimes. Pg 2 of this article explains how to actually prevent sex offenders from committing more crimes and it has nothing to do with a sex offender registry. God bless.
There are a lot of sicko's in this world and I guess the best we can do is give our kids the tools and knowledge to protect themselves. Registeries are an excellent but only if the offender actually registers.
They offer information but not, as we are all aware, real protection.
One good thing about them is toalert your childrn of them and what they look like if they are old enough to be told this. On the megan's law website, you can type in your zip, and you have the list and their pics, MO, pretty scary when you see how many are in the area