Sex offender registries were created as a means for law enforcement to track rapists and pedophiles to help quickly resolve sex cases. It evolved into a much larger system with many consequences. This evolution has been hastened by a moral panic based on bad facts and fueled by strong public opinion in favor of long prison sentences and even longer registration periods. Modern laws have little to do with monitoring and more to do with retribution. Proponents claim these penalties are a means to deter sex offenses, but very little research supports this contention. Instead, the registries and the media have generated a moral panic against sex offenders, resulting in far reaching consequences based on few facts. The label hinders employment and housing while placing offenders at a higher risk of vigilantism and mental health problems. This is very different from the original lists of convicted criminals.
","abstract_html":"<p>Sex offender registries were created as a means for law enforcement to track rapists and pedophiles to help quickly resolve sex cases. It evolved into a much larger system with many consequences. This evolution has been hastened by a moral panic based on bad facts and fueled by strong public opinion in favor of long prison sentences and even longer registration periods. Modern laws have little to do with monitoring and more to do with retribution. Proponents claim these penalties are a means to deter sex offenses, but very little research supports this contention. Instead, the registries and the media have generated a moral panic against sex offenders, resulting in far reaching consequences based on few facts. The label hinders employment and housing while placing offenders at a higher risk of vigilantism and mental health problems. This is very different from the original lists of convicted criminals.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wood, Daniel J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Peter Wood","Paul Leighton","Brian Sellers"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z","subjects":["Detterence","Moral Panic","Registries","Sex Offender","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/766","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Peter Wood","Paul Leighton","Brian Sellers"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wood, Daniel J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-03-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Detterence","Moral Panic","Registries","Sex Offender","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/766"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Sex offender registries were created as a means for law enforcement to track rapists and pedophiles to help quickly resolve sex cases. It evolved into a much larger system with many consequences. This evolution has been hastened by a moral panic based on bad facts and fueled by strong public opinion in favor of long prison sentences and even longer registration periods. Modern laws have little to do with monitoring and more to do with retribution. Proponents claim these penalties are a means to deter sex offenses, but very little research supports this contention. Instead, the registries and the media have generated a moral panic against sex offenders, resulting in far reaching consequences based on few facts. The label hinders employment and housing while placing offenders at a higher risk of vigilantism and mental health problems. This is very different from the original lists of convicted criminals.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sex offender registry acts: Deterrence or moral panic?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Peter Wood","Paul Leighton","Brian Sellers"],"dc:creator":["Wood, Daniel J"],"dc:date.available":["2018-03-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Sex offender registries were created as a means for law enforcement to track rapists and pedophiles to help quickly resolve sex cases. It evolved into a much larger system with many consequences. This evolution has been hastened by a moral panic based on bad facts and fueled by strong public opinion in favor of long prison sentences and even longer registration periods. Modern laws have little to do with monitoring and more to do with retribution. Proponents claim these penalties are a means to deter sex offenses, but very little research supports this contention. Instead, the registries and the media have generated a moral panic against sex offenders, resulting in far reaching consequences based on few facts. The label hinders employment and housing while placing offenders at a higher risk of vigilantism and mental health problems. This is very different from the original lists of convicted criminals.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/766"],"dc:subject":["Detterence","Moral Panic","Registries","Sex Offender","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["Sex offender registry acts: Deterrence or moral panic?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z"}