Citation

Budd KM, Johnston S. Crim. Justice Policy Rev. 2021; 32(7): 675-692.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0887403421991902

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Throughout the United States, sex offender registration laws in many states and the federal government have expanded to include juveniles. Once juveniles are registrants, they can potentially be subjected to required or discretionary public notification (PN). Given the documented detrimental effects of PN on juveniles and the prevalence of sexual offending by juvenile females, this study investigated public opinion on applying PN to juvenile females who were convicted of a sexual offense. Participants were 947 individuals recruited using Amazon's Mechanical Turk who completed an online survey. Multivariate logistic regression found support for PN increased when the public felt law enforcement was effective in investigating these crimes and there were increased public safety concerns. Support for PN decreased when the public supported plea bargaining and supported the law distinguishing between adults and juveniles who commit sex crimes. Implications of these results are discussed.

Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en

Keywords

females; juveniles; public notification; public opinion; sex offender laws