The Pros And Cons Of Sex Offenders

Sex offenders are the most stigmatized criminals in the nation today. Society has a conjured up image of what a sex offender looks like and acts like. A male who’s a stranger, with bottle glass glasses, a pencil mustache, comb over hair, and a demeanor about him that projects just plain creepy; and possibly worst of all, a man who fondles/molests children. With a luruid image like that, everyone could agree, that a sex offender is someone who we wouldn’t want in our neighborhoods, around our children, and definitely not in our back yards. For this reason, many states have implemented community notification laws which gives law enforcement authority to alert citizens when a convicted sex offender is released and reintegrating back into the community (Zevitz & Farkas 1). An organization called “Not in Our Backyard” has taken this stance to defend their neighborhoods of these villains labeled as convicted sex offenders. The pushback to resisting these individuals into
These “pocket parks” have created a loophole for communities to evade convicted sex offenders to moving to their neighborhoods (Warren, 2013). However, if the “pocket park” trend continues, then where will all of these sex offenders go? The reality is that research done by the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSMO) shows that convicted sex offenders make represent anywhere from 10-30% of prison populations (Bumby & Talbot, 2007, p. 1). An even scarier thought is that, “between 10,000 and 20,000 sex offenders are likely to exit prisons and return to communities annually” (Bumby & Talbot, 2007, p. 1).This paradigm poses a serious consequences for not only community members, but also for all stakeholders: law enforcement, parole/probation officers, the sex offenders themselves, and the media. The dilemma affiliated with community notification laws