Sexual Offense Legislation Across the Pond: A Review of Community Sentiment Toward the United Kingdom's Implementation of Sarah's Law
| Autor: | Devin Cowan, Kristen M. Zgoba |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male media_common.quotation_subject Legislation Disclosure Race (biology) Kingdom Comparative research Perception Surveys and Questionnaires Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences General Psychology media_common Parental status 050901 criminology 05 social sciences Sex Offenses Criminals Megan's Law Sexual offense Psychiatry and Mental health England Law Public Opinion Female 0509 other social sciences Psychology 050104 developmental & child psychology |
| Zdroj: | Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment. 32(4) |
| ISSN: | 1573-286X |
| Popis: | Within both the United States and the United Kingdom, laws have been implemented that govern the behavior of individuals convicted of certain sexually based offenses. Thus, research has naturally gravitated toward examining the public perceptions of these laws. Although both the United States and United Kingdom have laws regarding convicted sex offenders, and although these laws vary, research into the perceptions of these laws has largely been concentrated within the United States. The current study seeks to fill this gap through a survey of U.K. residents that assesses their perceptions of the implementation of Sarah’s Law. Respondents were gathered through convenience sampling methods in both Bristol and London, England ( n = 140). Overall, respondents were fairly supportive of Sarah’s Law and its current implementation. However, as opposed to respondents in the United States, U.K. respondents were also open to the idea of providing a degree of privacy to convicted sex offenders and were more tolerant of sexual offenders living near them. Finally, age, race, and parental status of the respondents were found to be statistically significant predictors among four identified dependent variables testing support of the law. Implications from these results are discussed, and a direction for future comparative research is highlighted. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|