Juvenile Sexual Crime Reporting Rates Are Not Influenced by Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Policies

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data on juvenile sexual crime reports originating in 4 states were used to assess the association between 4 different juvenile sex offender registration policies and juvenile sexual crime reports. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology, public policy, and law public policy, and law, 2017-05, Vol.23 (2), p.131-140
Main Authors: Sandler, Jeffrey C., Letourneau, Elizabeth J., Vandiver, Donna M., Shields, Ryan T., Chaffin, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crime Prevention
Human
Juvenile Delinquency
Policy Making
Public Safety
Safety
Sex Offenses
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Summary:National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data on juvenile sexual crime reports originating in 4 states were used to assess the association between 4 different juvenile sex offender registration policies and juvenile sexual crime reports. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analyses revealed no significant changes from before to after the implantation of juvenile registry requirements, suggesting that none of the tested policies influenced juvenile sexual crime reports. These results are commensurate with the only study evaluating juvenile sex offender registration on first-time sexual crimes and with the broader literature evaluating (and failing to find) an association between juvenile sex offender registration enactment and juvenile sexual offense recidivism rates. Juvenile sex offender registration policies were implemented with the primary aim of improving public safety. To date, no published studies support any public safety effect associated with juvenile sex offender registration policies. The current findings, when coupled with the larger literature base, support efforts to exclude juveniles from state and federal registration policies.
ISSN:1076-8971
1939-1528
DOI:10.1037/law0000118