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The Impact Of Demographic And Background Information On Public Perceptions Of Sex Offenders, Rylee D. Perez

Master's Theses

Many studies have examined the public’s perception of crime in the United State of America. As a whole, the public tends to favor harsh punishments and longer sentences for most crimes. In addition, the public tends to feel even more negatively toward sex offenders, often supporting punitive measures and restrictions when sex offenders are released, such as lifetime registration on the national sex offender registry. Although perceptions of crime, and sex offenses in general, appear to be negative among the general public, more recent research indicates that these perceptions can be influenced if information about the crime and offender is …