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Sex Crimes, Children, and Pornography: Public Views and Public Policy

NCJ Number
235819
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 54 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 532-559
Author(s)
Daniel P. Mears; Christina Mancini; Marc Gertz; Jake Bratton
Date Published
October 2008
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined public opinion about sex offenders and policy.
Abstract
"Get tough" approaches for responding to sex crimes have proliferated during the past decade. Child pornography in particular has garnered attention in recent years. Policymakers increasingly have emphasized incarceration as a response to such crime, including accessing child pornography. Juxtaposed against such efforts is a dearth of knowledge about "get tough" policies for responding to sex crimes, particularly those targeting children, and how most appropriately to respond to such crimes. The authors examine data from a national telephone survey of Americans to explore views toward sex crimes, with a special emphasis on crimes against children. The findings indicate the public supports tough responses to child sex crimes, but they also support treatment of sex offenders. Also, despite views that incarceration is an appropriate response to possessing child pornography, several social and demographic cleavages in such support exist. The authors discuss these findings and their implications for policy and research. (Published Abstract)