Behind the Screen: Getting to Know the Individuals that Run Sex Offender Advocacy Organizations

• In Event: Social Movements and Criminal Justice: Movement Impacts and Perspectives on Advocacy

Abstract

Despite the ever-increasing number of individuals placed on the sex offender registry each year, little consideration or care is given to these individuals and the damaging consequences they face after being forced to register. While there is ample public support for the sex offender registry, a small - yet growing - number of individuals have taken it upon themselves to advocate for sex offender registration reform and abolition. To date, very little research has examined sex offender advocacy groups, so additional research in this area is necessary. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 27 leaders of national and statewide sex offender advocacy organizations in the United States, the results of this study explore the activists' motivations for joining their organization, their victimization and/or discrimination due to their organizational involvement, and their perceptions of vigilantism against registered (or suspected) sex offenders. The findings from this study highlight the unique experiences of sex offender registry activists and the challenges that they face.

Author

• Kimberly Ann Ingold, University of Iowa