Life on “the List” is a Life Lived in Fear: Post-Conviction Traumatic Stress in Men Convicted of Sexual Offenses

• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20952397
• Author: Jill Levenson,Danielle Arlanda Harris
• Date: 01 May 2021
• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20952397

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2021, Vol. 65(6-7) 763 –789

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20952397

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Article

Life on “the List” is a Life

Lived in Fear: Post-Conviction

Traumatic Stress in Men

Convicted of Sexual Offenses

Danielle Arlanda Harris1 and Jill Levenson2

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a rapid expansion of increasingly restrictive laws

managing the post release behavior and movement of individuals convicted of sexual

offenses. In the US, this legislation has led to many barriers for people returning to

their community as “registered sex offenders.” We consider the often ignored but

undeniable traumagenic impact of life on “the list” and conceptualize this experience

as Post-Conviction Traumatic Stress. We present a qualitative content analysis of

secondary data collected from interviews with over 70 men. Emergent themes were

first organized according to the human needs identified in Maslow’s hierarchy, and then

by the established symptoms of PTSD, and finally in terms of resilient coping versus

traumatic coping when basic human needs were unmet. We discuss the unexplored

impact of traumatic instability on risk for recidivism and present recommendations

for trauma-informed policies and practices with individuals required to register as

“sex offenders.”

Keywords

sex offending, registration, re-entry, post-conviction traumatic stress, quaternary

prevention

Since the early 1990s, US jurisdictions have witnessed a proliferation of registration

and community notification laws aimed specifically at individuals convicted of sexual

offenses (especially against children) (Levenson et al., 2016). As the net gets wider,

1Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

2Barry University, Miami, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Danielle Arlanda Harris, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, Brisbane,

Queensland 4111, Australia.

Email: danielle.a.harris@griffith.edu.au

952397IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X20952397International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyHarris and Levenson

research-article2020

764 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 65(6-7)

and the mesh gets finer, the number of Americans registered as sex offenders (RSO)

approaches one million (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2018).

Collateral sanctions include public disclosure and restrictions on where they can live

and work, extending far beyond the registrant and impacting their families, children,

friends, colleagues, employers, and communities. In this study, we direct attention to

the often ignored but undeniable emotional impact of life on “the list” by describing

what we call Post-Conviction Traumatic Stress (PCTS). The lived experience of com-

munity re-entry following a custodial sentence is generally fraught with challenges

(Western, 2018), but the plethora of additional obstacles and restrictions faced by

RSOs undermines and complicates their post-release experience, often obstructing

successful reintegration.

Introduction

A growing body of qualitative research illustrates the psychosocial impact of these

policies with a focus on the lived experience of RSOs. Previous studies have focused

largely on issues of housing, employment, support systems, and access to services.

This line of research is vital because the evidence is clear: transience, homelessness,

lifestyle instability, civic disengagement, social disorganization, and unemployment

are criminogenic (Andrews & Bonta, 2017; Pettus-Davis et al., 2019; Uggen et al.,

2004; Western et al., 2015). One dimension of re-entry that has been neglected in the

literature is the traumagenic toll associated with reintegration barriers, and the result-

ing stigma, shame, and fear experienced by RSOs and their families (Bailey, 2018;

Harris et al., 2017; Sample et al., 2018; Willis, 2017).

Longitudinal research now demonstrates that desistance is the modal outcome upon

release and that recidivism rates for sexual offenders are generally low (Hanson et al.,

2018; Harris, 2017). We know that successful community re-entry and desistance are

most likely achieved in the presence of protective factors such as positive interper-

sonal connections, the pursuit of intimacy and self-efficacy, the development of social

supports, and living a purposeful and productive life (Craig & Rettenberger, 2018; de

Vries et al., 2015; Livingston, 2018; Willis & Ward, 2013). We also know that the

cumulative consequences of adverse life experiences can contribute to maladaptive

coping and self-regulation deficits that manifest in dynamic risk factors for both sex-

ual and nonsexual recidivism (Levenson et al., 2017; Pettus-Davis et al., 2019). The

experience of fear and stigmatizing labels can be traumagenic and can therefore chal-

lenge an RSO’s already compromised coping skills.

We contribute to knowledge about successful community reintegration by consid-

ering the psychosocial burden of navigating one’s re-entry while labeled as a “sex

offender.” Using a trauma-informed framework, we draw on the research about strain

(Agnew, 1992), labeling (Paternoster & Iovanni, 1989), and human needs (Maslow,

1943) to describe how fear and functioning intersect. We illustrate how each compo-

nent obstructs the pursuit of desistance using rich insights from RSOs who are living

in the community.