Rehabilitation or Social Isolation? The States’ Struggles with Juvenile Sex Offender Laws

• In Event: Perspectives on Punishment for Juvenile Sex Offenders

Abstract

In 2006, the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) was signed by then President George W. Bush, echoing in a new set of federal standards on how states were to deal with convicted sex offenders. One of the most controversial measures in the AWA required that a subset of juveniles register as sex offenders. Prior to this law, states were left to use their discretion to decide if this was appropriate, with many states excluding children from their sex offender registration program. The new federal mandate contradicted several other public safety measures (such as the shielding of juvenile court records), and the purpose of the juvenile justice court, which focuses on rehabilitation. This mandate left states confused as to whether or not to comply and if so how. This undergraduate funded research study seeks to determine if they are any common patterns in how states handled the registration of juvenile sex offenders.

Authors

• Elyce C. Hall, Bridgewater State University

• Richard G. Wright, Bridgewater State University