Perpetually Panicked: Testing the Community Attitudes toward Sex Offenders (CATSO) Scale

• In Event: Advances in Sexual Offense Policy Research: Community Support for Sex Offender Policies

Abstract

Researchers interested in registered sex offenders (RSOs) and SORN legislation have noted that there is a perpetual moral panic associated with the topic. Often feared and reviled by community members, RSOs have reported experiencing difficulties reentering society post-conviction. The current study seeks to predict community member attitudes regarding sex offenders, based on the idea that a perpetual moral panic continuously exists concerning RSOs. This study uses the elements of Cohen’s moral panic to predict community member beliefs about sex offenders derived from the Community Member Attitudes toward Sex Offenders (CATSO) Scale (Church et al., 2008). Using a step-wise OLS regression analytical approach, the findings suggest that the theoretical elements of a moral panic are strongly predictive of community member beliefs RSOs, and mediate other predictor variables normally associated with negative attitudes toward sex offenders and the sex offender registry. Parental status, race, and prior knowledge regarding sex offender policy issues play key roles in predicting the elements of the CATSO scale. Additional research findings, policy implications, and limitations will be discussed.

Authors

• Jennifer Klein, University of Texas at Tyler

• Danielle Bailey, University of Texas at Tyler

• Danielle Cooper, University of New Haven