Doctoral Dissertation Research: No Good Place: Community Responses to States' Crime Control Policies

这项研究调查了性暴力捕食者(SVP)在加州社区的安置情况，以了解社区对性犯罪者反应的差异，并更广泛地了解当地情况如何影响对犯罪的官方和非官方反应。这项研究考虑了当地政府官员、执法机构和居民之间现在和过去的关系如何影响社区成员在性犯罪者迁入时的反应，以及是什么解释了社区之间反应的差异。为了回答这些问题，本研究采用档案分析和深度访谈的方法，对最近经历过社会保障安置的五个社区的居民和官员进行了访谈。该项目将有助于理解当地犯罪控制政治的动态，包括在公众普遍不信任政府的情况下，居民和官员如何就控制犯罪的责任进行谈判，鉴于社区中已经发挥作用的独特的社会控制组合，实现公共安全的正式和非正式战略，以及在努力实现公共安全的共同目标时权利的意义。在地方一级探讨这些问题不仅将扩大对犯罪控制政治的理解，还将有助于讨论如何在规范性犯罪者释放的政策中平衡社区和刑事司法方面的关切。为了为社区成员、政策制定者和刑事司法工作者共同努力解决性犯罪者重新融入社会和更广泛的犯罪控制问题提供基础，这项研究将通过学术期刊、向学者和性犯罪者从业者发表演讲以及参与加州通过犯罪进行可视化治理研究协作来传播。

This research examines the placement of sexually violent predators (SVPs) in California communities in order to understand variations in community responses to sex offenders, and, more broadly, to understand how local circumstances shape official and unofficial responses to crime. The research considers how current and past relationships between local government officials, law enforcement agencies, and residents shape community members' responses when a sex offender moves in, and what accounts for differences in responses between communities. To answer these questions, this research uses archival analyses and in-depth interviews with residents and officials in five communities that have recently experienced SVP placements. This project will contribute to understanding the dynamics of the local politics of crime control, including how residents and officials negotiate responsibilities for crime control given general public distrust of government, formal and informal strategies for achieving public safety in light of the unique mixtures of social control already at work in communities, and the meaning of rights when working toward the shared goal of public safety. Exploring these issues at a local level will not only expand understanding of the politics of crime control, but will also contribute to discussions about how to balance community and criminal justice concerns in policies that regulate sex offender releases. To provide a foundation for community members, policymakers, and criminal justice workers to work together in addressing sex offender reintegration and broader crime control issues, this research will be disseminated through academic journals, presentations to academics and sex-offender practitioners, and participation in the Visualizing Governing through Crime in California research collaborative.