Community Response to Sex Offenders

Abstract

Sex offender community notification statutes have been enacted to provide community members with relevant information for assessing risk of sexual victimization and to guide precautionary behavior. Prior research has found that community members receiving sex offender notification are significantly more likely to engage in precautionary measures to prevent crime victimization to themselves and household members, and has indicated that sex offender notification is significantly related to self-fear of victimization. Research has not, however, taken into consideration the relationship between protective behavior, fear of victimization, and perceived risk of victimization. This study expands the literature on notification statutes by comparing the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions of community members who have received sex offender notification with the reactions of community members who have not. Drawing upon survey analysis from Hamilton County, Ohio, we find that receiving notification that a sex offender has moved into a community significantly influences perceived risk of victimization and the behaviors individuals engage in to protect household members from crime victimization, but does not produce a significant effect on fear of victimization.