Knowledge of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Laws Predicts Adolescent Sexual Behavior

Collateral Consequences for Juveniles in the Justice System: Change in Perceptions after an Educational Intervention

“…For example, politicians and policymakers look to polls to measure the popularity of proposed crime policy (Frost & Monteiro, ). Alternatively, they may assume public support for specific initiatives (Salerno et al., ) and act accordingly, even if public perceptions are not well informed and knowledge of the issue is minimal, such as with juvenile sex offender policy (Stevenson, Njadowski, & Wiley, ). Furthermore, policy makers may assume that public perceptions are consistent across a single issue, even when public opinions may be more nuanced, as is the case with public attitudes toward juvenile sex offenders—for instance, research has revealed public beliefs that female juvenile sex offenders commit more serious offenses and are in need of more treatment than their male counterparts (Sahlstrom & Jeglic, ).…”

“…The current study examined public knowledge about the collateral consequences of justice involvement for youth and the extent to which a brief educational intervention could enhance awareness of the impact of juvenile system involvement on youths’ lives. Given previous findings of the public's limited awareness of specific collateral consequences, such as juvenile sex offender registration laws (Stevenson, Njadowski, & Wiley, ), we hypothesized that public knowledge of collateral consequences, more broadly, would be poor, with members of the general public correctly identifying fewer than one‐half of all collateral consequences identified in the Pennsylvania Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist. In addition, it was predicted that a brief educational intervention involving the presentation of a list of collateral consequences of a delinquency finding in Pennsylvania would change the public's opinion regarding the impact justice involvement has on a youth's life.…”

Online child exploitation: Challenges and future research directions

“…In countries with child pornography legislation, sexting tends to be addressed through such framework although questions remained whether this is really the most appropriate response, particularly when the offending material was taken by a minor and/or sent between minors (Humbach 2010;Jolicoeur & Zedlewski 2010). There have been several other cases where individuals (who may be considered 'minors' under the relevant child pornography legislation but within the age of consent under sexual offences legislation) were placed on the sex offender registry after being convicted of sexting offences (see Stevenson, Najdowski and Wiley 2013).…”

Parents of Minors Who Have Sexually Abused: Legal Liability and Clinical Interventions

“…(See Stevenson et al [2013] for a discussion of the failure of United States sex offender registration laws to lower recidivism.) Instead, mandated participation in the rehabilitation of their children may be viewed as the preferred intervention as such programs have been proven effective in preventing reoffending (Borduin et al, 2009) and are considered basic to international standards of care (Miner et al, 2006).…”

“…Given this natural lack of comprehension on the part of the public and policymakers, it is not surprising, then, that media coverage of newly disclosed sex crimes committed by minors (as well as by adults) often results in cries for harsh punishments and strong measures for protecting the public (see Stevenson, Najdowski, & Wiley's [2013, this issue] discussion of United States sex offender registration laws as applied to juveniles) and, at times, denigration of the young offenders' parents and requests that parents be held liable for their children's crimes. Criminal liability and punishment of young offenders rests on the assumption that minors are responsible for their actions.…”