The Social Construction of the Sex Offender

Over the last two decades, Americans have come to perceive sex offending as a serious and widespread problem. As a response to the public\u27s concern, new sex offender legislation has been enacted. This dissertation examines the contemporary sex offender problem and the legislative responses, within a social constructionist framework. I performed a content analysis of newspaper accounts, conducted interviews with public officials, and analyzed arrest data to determine the current definitions of sex offenders, the process by which those definitions found their way into law, and how they were applied to offenders. I found that the media depict and policy makers perceive an increase in sex offending, particularly against children, during the 1990s. In addition, both the media accounts and policy makers\u27 comments are dominated by an image of the sex offender as a compulsive recidivist whose behavior often escalates to lethal violent crime. However, law enforcement data indicate that sex crimes against children remained stable over this period, and offending against adults declined. Furthermore, arrested sex offenders had lower recidivism rates for sex crimes and other offenses than most other categories of offenders, and their behavior rarely escalates to more violent crime. It appears then that sex offender legislation did not arise simply because of the growing objective harm of sex offending. Rather, it was the product of a socially constructed panic stimulated by media depictions and used by policy makers to successfully promote sex offending as a menacing social problem worthy of costly and sweeping legislation. That legislation may not be effective in addressing behaviors of justifiable concern to the public. The dissertation contributes to social problems research by modeling the process whereby conditions are converted to the problems that eventually evoke legislative action. The results can be applied to evaluations of other social problems to better calibrate policy responses. Finally, the analysis highlights the need for policy makers and the general public to become more thoughtful consumers of media accounts of deviant behavior

Assessing Methamphetamine Use among Refugee Youth in Omaha

CPACS Urban Research Awards Part of the mission of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) is to conduct research, especially as it relates to concerns of our local and statewide constituencies. CPACS has always had an urban mission, and one way that mission is served is to preform applied research relevant to urban society in general, and the Omaha metropolitan area and other Nebraska urban communities in particular. Beginning in 2014, the CPACS Dean provided funding for the projects with high relevance to current urban issues, with the potential to apply the findings to practice in Nebraska, Iowa, and beyond

Assessment of Methamphetamines Use among Refugee Youth in Omaha: Examining Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives

CPACS Urban Research Awards Part of the mission of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) is to conduct research, especially as it relates to concerns of our local and statewide constituencies. CPACS has always had an urban mission, and one way that mission is served is to preform applied research relevant to urban society in general, and the Omaha metropolitan area and other Nebraska urban communities in particular. Beginning in 2014, the CPACS Dean provided funding for the projects with high relevance to current urban issues, with the potential to apply the findings to practice in Nebraska, Iowa, and beyond

Variability in the Implementation of State-Wide Law across Urban Environments: A Case Study using Sex Offender Law as an Example

CPACS Urban Research Awards Part of the mission of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) is to conduct research, especially as it relates to concerns of our local and statewide constituencies. CPACS has always had an urban mission, and one way that mission is served is to preform applied research relevant to urban society in general, and the Omaha metropolitan area and other Nebraska urban communities in particular. Beginning in 2014, the CPACS Dean provided funding for the projects with high relevance to current urban issues, with the potential to apply the findings to practice in Nebraska, Iowa, and beyond

Final Report For The Evaluation Of Nebraska’s Serious And Violent Offender Reentry Program

The purpose of the evaluation of the NDCS Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Program was to assess the success of the program in three areas. First, an evaluation of the process was conducted to determine if a reentry program had indeed been created by the NDCS. Second, a cost benefit analysis was conducted to determine the economic savings that a reentry program could promote for the state of Nebraska. Finally, an outcome evaluation was conducted to determine if the reentry program was successful in its goal of reducing recidivism among serious and violent offenders in the state. Below are the key findings of each of these three evaluation components

From Playboy to Prison: When Pornography Use Becomes a Crime

This study explores pornography use across the lifespan for a sample of registrants convicted of child pornography related offenses. We conducted qualitative life history interviews with nine offenders to examine how offender, victim, and situational factors interact to produce pornography related criminal events. Using a hybrid analytic approach, themes related to persistence in pornography use and the social acceptability of pornography are identified. These themes relate to transitions from legal pornography use to illegal child pornography possession

Do I Report This? Understanding Variation in the Content of State Mandatory Reporting Laws

Since accusations went public that administrators at Pennsylvania State University ignored reports of child abuse during the Jerry Sandusky trial almost a decade ago, several educational and state agencies have reinterpreted aspects of their respective laws requiring certain persons to report suspected child maltreatment (mandatory reporting laws). These reinterpretations were possible due to the ambiguity of statutory language used in the law and, subsequently, may have exposed individuals to a legal responsibility to report to which they were previously unaware. In this study, we use a thematic content analysis to examine variation across state mandatory reporting statutes from all fifty states as of 2016. Three themes emerged from this analysis: definitions for reasonableness, immediacy of danger, and inclusion of mandated reporters. Generally, we found that the vague language and variation in the content of the law, though well intentioned, may contribute to uncertainty in knowing when a report is necessary and who must report it. We conclude with considerations for future research, as well as highlight potential implications for instructors and researchers in higher education. These findings can contribute to our understanding of ambiguity in the law. Further, the sources of variability we identify in this analysis may help to anticipate potential shifts in legal risk in the wake of recent and future reinterpretations of ambiguously worded policy

The Americanization of Karen Refugee Youth: Exploring Attitudes Toward and Use of Methamphetamine

Drug use among refugee populations is a concerning trend in many urban American cities. For instance, Omaha, Nebraska is home to an estimated 7,000 refugees from Myanmar, with at least 75% of those being Karen refugees. The purpose of this paper is to explore methamphetamine use among Karen adolescents in Omaha and to examine whether Karen youth bring their drug use habits with them from refugee camps or if they learn about drugs from their American peers. Two focus groups of Karen youth and two focus groups of Karen parents were conducted to examine methamphetamine use among this population. Findings suggest, like most youth, the Karen children were reluctant to disclose their own use of drugs, but they did see the use of methamphetamine and other drugs in their schools. It appears drug use among the Karen youth is acquired during the “Americanization” of these children in Omaha schools

Forced Interactions with Sheriff Deputies Over Time and Their Influence on Stigma and Self Identities Among Individuals Convicted of Sex Crimes

This paper examined the perceptions of convicted sex offenders and their interactions with law enforcement over time. Specifically, we focused on how formal interactions influenced stigma management and self-identity transformation. For decades, scholars have proposed that identities and behaviors often result from interactions with others. Sex offender registration and notification laws force interactions between registrants and police agents for years, if not a lifetime. Given that desistance from sex offending is dependent on prosocial identity transformation, we analyzed interviews with 63 registrants to uncover how interactions with police promote or inhibit identity transformation over time. Our findings suggested interactions with police can influence the internalization of a “sex offender” label, can reaffirm non-offender role identities, but mostly have little to no effect on personal identity transformation over time

Genetically inferred birthweight, height, and puberty timing and risk of osteosarcoma

INTRODUCTION: Several studies have linked increased risk of osteosarcoma with tall stature, high birthweight, and early puberty, although evidence is inconsistent. We used genetic risk scores (GRS) based on established genetic loci for these traits and evaluated associations between genetically inferred birthweight, height, and puberty timing with osteosarcoma. METHODS: Using genotype data from two genome-wide association studies, totaling 1039 cases and 2923 controls of European ancestry, association analyses were conducted using logistic regression for each study and meta-analyzed to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses were conducted by case diagnosis age, metastasis status, tumor location, tumor histology, and presence of a known pathogenic variant in a cancer susceptibility gene. RESULTS: Genetically inferred higher birthweight was associated with an increased risk of osteosarcoma (OR =1.59, 95% CI 1.07-2.38, P = 0.02). This association was strongest in cases without metastatic disease (OR =2.46, 95% CI 1.44-4.19, P = 9.5 ×10-04). Although there was no overall association between osteosarcoma and genetically inferred taller stature (OR=1.06, 95% CI 0.96-1.17, P = 0.28), the GRS for taller stature was associated with an increased risk of osteosarcoma in 154 cases with a known pathogenic cancer susceptibility gene variant (OR=1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.63, P = 0.03). There were no significant associations between the GRS for puberty timing and osteosarcoma. CONCLUSION: A genetic propensity to higher birthweight was associated with increased osteosarcoma risk, suggesting that shared genetic factors or biological pathways that affect birthweight may contribute to osteosarcoma pathogenesis