Sex Violence Prevention--Does Offender Registration Work

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：减少性暴力是CDC在2010年健康人群和CDC伤害研究议程中确定的研究重点。本研究将审查性犯罪者登记和通知政策是否具有减少青少年性暴力的预期效果。这项研究还将研究这些政策是否有意想不到的效果，降低了犯下严重性犯罪的青少年因此类罪行而被判决的可能性。虽然登记和通知法颁布于十年前，但基本上没有经过实证研究。因此，这项研究将代表性犯罪者的具体政策对少年犯的影响的第一个实证研究。具体目标包括审查南卡罗来纳州的登记和通知政策是否具有：（1）预防性犯罪的预期效果;（2）减少性犯罪累犯的预期效果;以及（3）减少性犯罪青年因此类犯罪而被起诉或判决的可能性的意外效果。为了实现这些目标，12年的少年司法数据从南卡罗来纳州将审查的变化趋势的首次性犯罪和性累犯。还将审查同一时期的性暴力受害者报告，以确定裁决率的变化是否与受害者报告的变化平行。将对非性犯罪的数据进行审查，以确定性犯罪率的变化是否与其他类型犯罪的变化完全平行，或者是由于性犯罪者特有的政策变化而出现的。Letourneau博士最终计划进行研究，比较限制性较低与限制性较强的登记和通知政策对美国各地青少年性犯罪者的影响，包括详细研究这些政策影响的具体机制。本研究与公共卫生的关系在于能够检测影响数千名青少年性犯罪者的广泛政策是否以任何方式减少了性暴力。如果是这样的话，就必须将这一信息传达给迄今为止几乎完全没有经验数据的决策者。否则，维持这些政策所需的大量资源应转用于更有希望的预防暴力方案。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from applicant's abstract): The reduction of sexual violence is a research priority identified by the CDC in Healthy People 2010 and the CDC Injury Research Agenda. The present study will examine whether sex offender registration and notification policies have the intended effects of reducing sexual violence by juveniles. This study will also examine whether these policies have an unintended effect of reducing the probability that youths who commit serious sexual offenses will be adjudicated for such offenses. Although enacted a decade ago, registration and notification laws have largely escaped empirical investigation. Thus, this study will represent the first empirical examination of the effects of sex offender-specific policies on juvenile offenders. Specific aims include examining whether South Carolina registration and notification policies have: (1) the intended effect of preventing sexual offending; (2) the intended effect of reducing sexual recidivism; and (3) the unintended effect of reducing the probabilities that youth who commit sexual crimes will be prosecuted or adjudicated for such crimes. To accomplish these aims, 12 years of juvenile justice data from South Carolina will be examined for changes in trends of first time sexual offending and sexual recidivism. Victim reports of sexual violence over this same time period will also be examined, to determine whether changes in adjudication rates parallel changes in victim reports. Data on non-sexual crimes will be examined to determine whether changes in rates of sexual offending simply parallel changes in other types of offending or appear due to sex offender-specific policy changes. Dr. Letourneau ultimately plans to conduct research comparing the impact of less restrictive versus more restrictive registration and notification policies on juvenile sex offenders throughout the United States, including research detailing the specific mechanics of the effects of these policies. The relationship of the present study to public health lies in the ability to detect whether broad policies that impact thousands of juvenile sex offenders have in any way reduced sexual violence. If so, this information must be communicated to policy makers who have heretofore acted in the near total absence of empirical data. If not, the substantial resources required to maintain these policies should be redirected towards more promising violence prevention programs.