Sex Offender Registries Essay

Although sex offender registries were designed with the intention of deterring sex offenders from recidivating by providing their information to the public, the legislation needs to be examined if it is serving its purpose. One particular study by Zgoba, Bonia, Veysey, and Dalessandro collected demographic information, criminal history records, along with clinical and institutional information to compare and contrast the outcomes of multiple sex offenders. Recidivism measures were collected from offenders who had been released before and following the implementation of SORN. Together, more than half of the offenders lacked a high school education, however, a large majority of the offenders (94%) had received sex offender treatment and education classes such as life skills training and substance counseling while they were incarcerated. General recidivism rates varied each year, with the …show more content…
Registries were established in order to promote safety and protect the public by having the offender’s information publically available. Although the registries are intended to have positive effects, Agan (2011) acknowledges the negative effects registries can have. As the public is aware of an offender’s status as a sex offender following their release, offenders have high reintegration costs as they may potentially face public humiliation or harassment and their outside opportunities in regards to their social life and employment may become limited. The costs also affect the people that live near a sex offender because their homes sell for thousands of dollars less. Agan’s (2011) study did not support the effectiveness of sex offender registries and argues how the costs of litigation, increased surveillance and the implementation of registries for sex offenders has provided a false sense of security for the public while not effecting