Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Sex offender registries have been established throughout the United States. To date, 16 states have adopted additional residency restriction policies, precluding registered sex offenders from living within a certain distance of places where children gather. This study quantifies the impact of residency restrictions on housing options for registered sex offenders using Orange County, Florida, as a case study. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is employed to identify all occupied residential properties using parcel-level zoning data as well as those that fall within the 1,000-foot restricted buffer zones around attractions, bus stops, daycares, parks, and schools. Results indicate that housing options for registered sex offenders within urban residential areas are limited to only 5% of potentially available parcels and that bus stop restrictions impact the amount of livable area the most, followed by daycares, schools, parks, and attractions. The limited options to establish residency exist mostly in low-density rural areas. This supports the argument that residency restrictions for sexual offenders are a strong contributing factor to their social and economic isolation. The impacts of increasing the buffer to a proposed 2,500-foot zone are discussed, and a comparison of the individual restriction categories is presented.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

M.A.

(1999). Sexual offender treatment efficacy revisited. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 11(2), 101–117.

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. (2005). Facts about adult sex offenders. Beaverton, Oregon: Author. Retrieved from http://www.atsa.com/pdfs/ppOffenderFacts.pdf.

Barbaree

H. E.

Seto

M. T.

, & Maric

(1996). Effective sex offender treatment: The Warkworth Sexual Behavior Clinic. Forum on Corrections Research, 8(3), 13–15.

Blair

(2004). Wisconsin's sex offender registration and notification laws: Has the Wisconsin Legislature left the criminals and constitution behind? Marquette Law Review, 87(5), 939–980.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2006). Reentry trends in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/reentry/reentry.htm.

Colorado Department of Public Safety. (2004). Report on safety issues raised by living arrangements for and location of sex offenders in the community. Denver, CO: Sex Offender Management Board. Retrieved from http://dcj.state.co.us/odvsom/Sex_Offender/SO_Pdfs/FullSLAFinal01.pdf.

Edwards

, & Hensley

(2001). Contextualizing sex offender management legislation and policy: Evaluating the problem of latent consequences in community notification laws. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45(1), 83–101.

Elbogen

E. B.

Patry

, & Scalora

M. J.

(2003). The impact of community notification laws on sex offender treatment attitudes. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 26, 207–219.

ESRI (2005). ArcGIS Desktop Release 9.1, ESRI, Redlands, CA.

10.

Hanson

R. K.

, & Harris

A. J. R.

(1998). Dynamic predictors of sexual recidivism. Ottawa, Canada: Department of the Solicitor General of Canada. Retrieved from http://ww2.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/corrections/199801b_e.pdf.

11.

Iowa County Attorneys Association. (2006). Statement on sex offender residency restrictions in Iowa. Retrieved from http://www.iowa-icaa.com/ICA%20STATEMENTS/Sex%Offender%20Residency%20Statement%20Feb%2014%2006%2\ 0for%20website.pdf

12.

Levenson

J. S.

, & Cotter

(2005a). The impact of Megan's Law on sex offender reintegration. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 49–66.

13.

Levenson

J. S.

, & Cotter

L. P.

(2005b). The impact of sex offender residence restrictions: 1,000 feet from danger or one step from absurd? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(2), 168–178.

14.

Marques

Day

Nelson

, & West

(1994). Effects of cognitive-behavioral treatment on sex offender recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21(1), 28–34.

15.

Marshall

, & Barbaree

(1988). The long-term evaluation of a behavioral treatment program for child molesters. Behavior Research and Therapy, 26(6), 499–511.

16.

Marshall

Eccles

, & Barbaree

(1991). The treatment of exhibitionists: A focus on sexual deviance versus cognitive and relationship features. Behavior Research and Therapy, 29(2), 129–135.

17.

Minnesota Department of Corrections. (2003). Level three sex offenders residential placement issues. St. Paul. MN. Retrieved from http://www.corr.state.mn.us/publications/legislativereports/pdf/2004/Lvl%203%20SEX%20OFFENDERS%20report%202003%20(revised%202-04).pdf.

18.

Mustaine

E. E.

Tewksbury

, & Stengel

K. M.

(2006a). Residential location and mobility of registered sex offenders. American Journal of Criminal Justice 30(2), 177–192.

19.

Mustaine

E. E.

Tewksbury

, & Stengel

K. M.

(2006b). Social disorganization and residential locations of registered sex offenders: Is this a collateral consequence? Deviant Behavior 27(3), 329–350.

20.

Rice

Quinsey

, & Harris

(1991). Sexual recidivism among child molesters released from a maximum security psychiatric institution. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 29(3), 381–386.

21.

Robinson

(1996). Factors influencing the effectiveness of cognitive skills training. Forum on Corrections Research, 8(3), 6–9.

22.

Schram

, & Milloy

C. D.

(1995). Community notification: A study of offender characteristics and recidivism. Olympia, WA: Washington Institute for Public Policy.

23.

Tewksbury

(2004). Experiences and attitudes of registered female sex offenders. Federal Probation, 68(3), 30–33.

24.

Tewksbury

(2005). Collateral consequences of sex offender registration. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 67–81.

25.

Tewksbury

, & Lees

(2006). Consequences of sex offender registration: Collateral consequences and community experiences. Sociological Spectrum, 26(3), 309–334.

26.

Tewksbury

, & Mustaine

E. E.

(2006). Where to find sex offenders: An examination of residential locations and neighborhood conditions. Criminal Justice Studies, 19(1), 61–75.

27.

Travis

Solomon

A. L.

, & Waul

(2001). From prison to home: The dimensions and consequences of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/from_prison_to_home.pdf.

28.

Walker

J. T.

Golden

J.W.

, & VanHouten

A. C.

(2001). The geographic link between sex offenders and potential victims: A routine activities approach. Justice Research and Policy, 3(2), 15–33.

29.

Welchans

(2005). Megan's Law: Evaluations of sexual offender registries. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16(2), 123–140.

30.

Wright

R. G.

(2003). Sex offender registration and notification: Public attention, political emphasis, and fear. Criminology & Public Policy, 3(1), 97–104.

31.

Younglove

J. A.

, & Vitello

C. J.

(2003). Community notification provisions of “Megan's Law” from a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective: A case study. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 21(1), 25–38.

32.

Zevitz

R. G.

Crim

, & Farkas

M. A.

(2000). Sex offender community notification: Examining the importance of neighborhood meetings. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18, 393–408.

33.

Zevitz

R. G.

, & Farkas

M. A.

(2000). Sex offender community notification: Managing high risk criminals or exacting further vengeance? Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18, 375–391.

34.

Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Legislative Notice. U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee (2006).

35.

Doe. v. Miller, 405 F.3d 700, 710 (8th Cir. 2005).

36.

Florida House Bill 91 CS. Residence of sexual offenders and predators. (2006).

37.

Florida Statute §947.1405(7a)(2). Conditional release program. (2005).

38.

Florida Statute §948.30(1b). Additional terms and conditions of probation or community control for certain sex offenses. (2005).

39.

Iowa Code §692A.2A. Residency restrictions—child care facilities and schools. (2003).

40.

Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, 42 U.S.C. §14071 (1994).

41.

Megan's Law, Pub. L. No. 104–145, § 2, 110 Stat. 1345 (1996).

42.

Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act, Pub. L. 108–21, § 362, 117 Stat. 665 (2003).

43.

State v. Seering, 701 N.W.2d 655 (Iowa 2005).

44.

Township of Manalapan, NJ: Chapter §187-1. Residency prohibition. Ord. No. 2005–29 (2005).

45.

Washington Senate Bill 6325. Sex offenders — Residency requirements. (2005).

Reducing Housing Options for Convicted Sex Offenders: Investigating the Impact of Residency Restriction Laws Using GIS

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References