- The Oxford Handbooks in Criminology and Criminal Justice
- The Oxford Handbook of Sex Offences and Sex Offenders
- Dedication
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- What is sex crime?
- Exploring the methods behind sexual violence estimates: The Composition and Findings from National and International Surveys
- The explanation of sexual offending
- Sexual offenders and human rights: Protecting Victims
- Rape and domestic sexual assault
- Sexual homicide and violent offenders
- Child sexual abuse
- Alcohol and drugs in relation to sexual offending
- Commercial sexual exploitation of children
- Victim–offender overlap among sex offenders
- Female sex offenders
- The juvenile sex offender: Criminal Careers and Recidivism Risk
- A developmental life-course perspective of juvenile and adult sexual offending
- Victimization and revictimization
- The role of policy in preventing sexual violence
- The policing of sexual activity
- Sentencing high-risk sex offenders: Policy and Legislation
- The aftermath of sex offender registration and other controls
- Risk assessment of sex offenders
- Treatment of sex offenders: Concepts and Empirical Evaluations
- Informal social control of sex offenders: The Family and Other Forms of Support
- Restorative justice and sex offending
- Public perceptions of sex crimes and sex offenders
- The media response to sex crimes
- The paedophile in popular culture: Fictional Representations of Sex Crime
- Social media, cyberspace, and sex crime: Deviant and Democratizing Spaces
- The criminalization of sexuality
- Prostitution and sex work
- Pornography
- Sex trafficking and control
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This essay focuses on the role of law and policy in sexual assault and offending. Comparing and contrasting U.S., Canadian, and European policy approaches, the review examines how various governments have prioritized their legal approaches to sexual offending prevention and response. These responses have included broad-based conviction-focused schemes, narrowly focused laws centered on high-risk repeat offenders, and prioritization with stranger-based assault. There has been great variance in terms of the emphasis placed on treatment and public notification. The essay analyses how these nations have learned from each other and how their sex offending policies have evolved, if and how they reflect the science of sexual offending and risk, and which demonstrate the most promise for sexual assault reduction with the fewest unintended consequences.
Keywords: assault reduction, law, policy, sexual assault, sex offending, unintended consequences
Richard Wright is Curators’ Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
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- The Oxford Handbooks in Criminology and Criminal Justice
- The Oxford Handbook of Sex Offences and Sex Offenders
- Dedication
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- What is sex crime?
- Exploring the methods behind sexual violence estimates: The Composition and Findings from National and International Surveys
- The explanation of sexual offending
- Sexual offenders and human rights: Protecting Victims
- Rape and domestic sexual assault
- Sexual homicide and violent offenders
- Child sexual abuse
- Alcohol and drugs in relation to sexual offending
- Commercial sexual exploitation of children
- Victim–offender overlap among sex offenders
- Female sex offenders
- The juvenile sex offender: Criminal Careers and Recidivism Risk
- A developmental life-course perspective of juvenile and adult sexual offending
- Victimization and revictimization
- The role of policy in preventing sexual violence
- The policing of sexual activity
- Sentencing high-risk sex offenders: Policy and Legislation
- The aftermath of sex offender registration and other controls
- Risk assessment of sex offenders
- Treatment of sex offenders: Concepts and Empirical Evaluations
- Informal social control of sex offenders: The Family and Other Forms of Support
- Restorative justice and sex offending
- Public perceptions of sex crimes and sex offenders
- The media response to sex crimes
- The paedophile in popular culture: Fictional Representations of Sex Crime
- Social media, cyberspace, and sex crime: Deviant and Democratizing Spaces
- The criminalization of sexuality
- Prostitution and sex work
- Pornography
- Sex trafficking and control
- Index