Book Review: Sex crime, offenders, and society: A critical look at sexual offending and policy

• Author: Danielle J. S. Bailey
• Published date: 01 December 2014
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016814546353
• Date: 01 December 2014
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Lewis’s presentation of the cultural politics of hate crimes is not only thought provoking and

courageous but also has a lasting and valuable contribution. The coverage of smaller nuances

within the topic, richness of the data, depth and objectivity of the analyses, and eloquence of

the language make this book a must read for anyone who has the slightest interest in hate crime

and is not afraid of having his or her perceived notion being challenged.

Mancini, C. (2014).

Sex crime, offenders, and society: A critical look at sexual offending and policy. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic

Press, 316 pp. $45.00, ISBN: 9781611633757

Reviewed by: Danielle J. S. Bailey, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016814546353

The term sex offender has become a ubiquitous part of our everyday life. We hear the word batted

around on the news when children are abducted or when child pornography raids are carried out.

We hear it at schoolsand on holidays when parents areencouraged to use the public sex offender reg-

istry to protect children. But how many people actually understand what a sex offender is? Do many

people know how we punish and rehabilitate sexual offenders? How many of us comprehend the

extent to which the criminal justice system has been shapedaround our views and our limited under-

standing of these types of crimes and offenders? Christina Mancini undertakes our enlightenment in

her book Sex Crime, Offenders, and Society: A Critical Look at Sexual Offending and Policy. A won-

derful addition to the sex crime literature, Mancini explores the broad world of sexual offending,

including the realities about sex offenses and sex offending trends, public perceptions of sex offenses

and the offenders that perpetrate them, and criminal justice policies enacted to combat sexual crime.

Divided into three parts, the first section of the book delves into the meaning of the term ‘‘sex

offender.’’In Chapter 1, Mancini discusses the traditional typologies of sex offenses such as the Fed-

eral Bureau of Investigation’s typology of rapists, but also spends time exploring newer classifica-

tion studies for specific subgroups such as juveniles, females, and internet sex offenders. The

discussion of each classification lacks a strong critique at times, particularly of those classifications

determined with very small sample sizes, but readers will still benefit from exposure to the variety of

emerging typologies for this population. Chapters 2 and 3 include detailed descriptions of sex crime

statistic collection techniques and longitudinal data that provides readers with a knowledgeable base

for understanding sex crime trends and perceptions. Although Mancini’s discussion of traditional

instruments such as the National Crime Victimization Survey and the Uniform Crime Report may

be redundant for those familiar with the criminal justice system, her explanation about recent, sex

crime–specific instruments such as the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey or the

National College Women Sexual Victimization Study make a contribution beyond that found in

more broad criminal justice texts.

In section 2, Mancini exposes the stereotypical view of sex offenders to critical analysis. Chapter5

disentangles the various assumptions that make up a ‘‘sex offender’’ anddescribes the empirical basis

for refutation or confirmation of each assumption, while Chapter 6 informs readers about societal

divides in public opinion and attitudes toward sex offenders. I particularly enjoyed Chapter 7, which

focused on the development of sex offender policies in the United States. Traditionally, most discus-

sions of theselaws begin in the early 1900s withthe enactment of civil confinement policies,but Man-

cini digs deeper into American history and provides a short discussion about the treatment of sex

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