Variation in the Content of Sex Offender Registration Laws: The Role of State-Level Context
Advisor Information
Lisa Sample
Location
UNO Criss Library, Room 231
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
7-3-2014 9:15 AM
End Date
7-3-2014 9:30 AM
Abstract
If sex offender laws are legislative responses to nationwide sex crime panics, as is widely described in the existing literature, one would infer that sex offender laws across states would be passed at similar times. However, recent research has observed significant temporal variation in the creation and revision of sex offender laws across the United States. Using legislative histories of SORCN statutes from several US states, this study explored variation in the timing of the passage of SORCN both across and within states using a thematic content analysis. This information may provide a better understanding of legislative responses to moral panic and criminal justice policy making more generally.
Variation in the Content of Sex Offender Registration Laws: The Role of State-Level Context
UNO Criss Library, Room 231
If sex offender laws are legislative responses to nationwide sex crime panics, as is widely described in the existing literature, one would infer that sex offender laws across states would be passed at similar times. However, recent research has observed significant temporal variation in the creation and revision of sex offender laws across the United States. Using legislative histories of SORCN statutes from several US states, this study explored variation in the timing of the passage of SORCN both across and within states using a thematic content analysis. This information may provide a better understanding of legislative responses to moral panic and criminal justice policy making more generally.