VULNERABLE VICTIMS, MONSTROUS OFFENDERS, AND UNMANAGEABLE RISK: EXPLAINING PUBLIC OPINION ON THE SOCIAL CONTROL OF SEX CRIME

• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Author: DANIEL P. MEARS,JUSTIN T. PICKETT,CHRISTINA MANCINI
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12018
• Date: 01 August 2013

VULNERABLE VICTIMS, MONSTROUS

OFFENDERS, AND UNMANAGEABLE RISK:

EXPLAINING PUBLIC OPINION ON THE

SOCIAL CONTROL OF SEX CRIME∗

JUSTIN T. PICKETT

School of Criminal Justice

University at Albany, SUNY

CHRISTINA MANCINI

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Virginia Commonwealth University

DANIEL P. MEARS

College of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Florida State University

KEYWORDS: public opinion, sex crime, sexual offenders, punishment,

rehabilitation

With the possible exception of terrorists, sex offenders in the United

States experience a greater degree of punishment and restriction than

any other offender group, nonviolent or violent. Members of the pub-

lic overwhelmingly support “get tough” sex crime policies and display

an intense hostility toward persons labeled “sex criminals.” The theoret-

ical literature has identified three models potentially explaining public

opinion on the social control of sex crime: the victim-oriented concerns

model, the sex offender stereotypes model, and the risk-management

concerns model. However, empirical work that directly tests these mod-

els is absent. This article addresses that gap by analyzing national survey

data that includes measures of the key concepts outlined in the differ-

ent theoretical models and items gauging support for punitive sex crime

∗Additional supporting information can be found in the listing for this article in the

Wiley Online Library at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/crim.2011.51.

issue-3/issuetoc. The authors are grateful to the editor, four anonymous review-

ers, and Philip Garland (vice president of methodology for SurveyMonkey.com)

for their helpful comments. Direct correspondence to Justin T. Pickett, School of

Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany, 135 Western Avenue,

Albany, NY 12222 (e-mail: jpickett@albany.edu).

C2013 American Society of Criminology doi: 10.1111/1745-9125.12018

CRIMINOLOGY Volume 51 Number 3 2013 729

730 PICKETT, MANCINI, & MEARS

laws as well as support for sex offender treatment. The findings provide

partial support for all three models but suggest that extant theories can

better explain support for punitive sex crime policies than views about

sex offender treatment.

In the contemporary United States, individuals convicted of committing

sexual offenses experience a higher level and intensity of public con-

demnation, and a greater degree of stigmatization and forfeiture of their

civil liberties, than any other type of criminal offender, nonviolent or

violent (Lancaster, 2011; Zilney and Zilney, 2009). With state legislators

often passing in excess of 50 new sex offender laws annually (Zilney and

Zilney, 2009), the extent of legislative action directed at sexual offenders is

unparalleled in the context of crime and punishment (Lynch, 2002; Simon

and Leon, 2007). As a result, and unlike persons found guilty of even the

most serious nonsexual offenses such as murder and armed robbery, sex

offenders in many states can be held in custody involuntarily beyond their

original sentences; are commonly required to register with authorities after

being released from prison, as well as to contend with their pictures, names,

and addresses being made available to the public; are generally restricted

in where they can live; and can be forced to undergo chemical castration

(Levenson and D’Amora, 2007; Mancini, Barnes, and Mears, 2013).

What is perhaps most remarkable about such policies is the broad

support for these and other similarly harsh sex offender laws among both

policy makers (Lynch, 2002; Sample and Kadleck, 2008) and members

of the public (Levenson et al., 2007; Mears et al., 2008). Indeed, scholars

have observed that in the public’s view, “sex offenders are the scourge of

modern America” (Logan, 1999: 1167); “the most despised members of our

society” (Geraghty, 2007: 514); “our modern-day monsters, producing tidal

waves of public demand” (Simon, 1998: 456); and a group for whom “the

vehemence of the hatred ...isunmatched by attitudes to any other offend-

ers” (Sampson, 1994: 124). It is little wonder, then, that previous studies

generally have found that popular attitudes are the most punitive toward

sex offenders (Deitz and Sissman, 1984; Manza, Brooks, and Uggen, 2004;

Rogers and Ferguson, 2011; Willis, Levenson, and Ward, 2010). Nor is it

surprising that most members of the public have reported that they would

support severely retributive and stigmatizing sex offender laws even if there

was no evidence demonstrating those policies are effective in controlling

sexual offending (Levenson et al., 2007; Levenson, Shields, and Singleton,

2012).

Such public views about the social control of sex crime have the poten-

tial to function as a stimulus for ever more repressive sex crime policies, a

barrier to the repeal of ineffective sex offender laws, and an obstacle to the

successful reintegration of persons convicted of sexual offenses (Levenson