@article{ref1,
title="Rural residents' emotions, beliefs, and sources that influenced those beliefs regarding sex offender policies, practice, and the efficacy of treatment",
journal="Behavioral sciences and the law",
year="2022",
author="Kang, Tamara and Green, Adam and Akamani, Betty and Pinkston, Kieleha",
volume="40",
number="3",
pages="379-402",
abstract="Public perceptions regarding a sex offender's likelihood to reoffend and the efficacy of sex offender policies and practices is often inconsistent with the extant literature in academia. Thus, there is a critical need to better understand what influences those beliefs regarding sex offender policies and practices. We collected data from 284 residents from government defined rural counties and sought to examine: (1) the sources that were most influential in shaping their beliefs regarding sex offender policies and practices; (2) what characteristics the &quot;influential sources&quot; had; and (3) the residents' emotional response when they think about &quot;sex offenders&quot;. The majority of participants were supportive of registration, community notification, and use of the polygraph. Further, the results suggest that &quot;academics and peer review articles&quot; rarely influence beliefs. Rather, &quot;personal experiences&quot; and the emotions &quot;rage&quot; and &quot;sadness&quot; (but not anger or disgust) may be important in influencing rural residents' beliefs regarding sex offender treatment, castration, execution, and misconceptions regarding juveniles with a sex offense. We conclude by discussing: (1) potential factors that may affect why academics are not perceived as influential sources; and (2) possibilities for how scientists can influence rural residents' beliefs by utilizing personal experiences and anecdotal information that may spark emotion.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0735-3936",
doi="10.1002/bsl.2562",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2562"
}