Juvenile Sexual Offender Registration: A Research Review

• In Event: Crime Prevention Strategies: Findings from the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center

Abstract

The JPRC reviewed the literature on juvenile sex offender registries. These registries, which require juvenile sex offenders in many states to register with police and often come with mandates for police to notify community members about such offenders working or living in their communities, are controversial. Some argue that there are public safety benefits for such registration; others contend that these laws create more harm than benefit and hamper the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The questions that guided the literature review and will be summarized in this presentation include:

•What are the theoretical and legal assumptions behind the practice of juvenile sexual offender registration?
•How does the literature describe juvenile sexual offender registration?
•What are the major topics addressed in the literature regarding juvenile sexual offender registration?
•What does the empirical research say about the impact of juvenile sexual offender registration on juvenile sexual offenders, their families, and their communities?

The paper will present a response to these questions to illuminate the breadth and depth of information on this emerging this issue in juvenile justice.

Authors

• Alexis Stern, Justice & Prevention Research Center

• Anthony Petrosino, WestEd

• Sarah Guckenburg, WestEd