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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Adam Walsh Act: Juveniles And Sex Offender Registration And Notification, Kallee Spooner Jan 2011

The Adam Walsh Act: Juveniles And Sex Offender Registration And Notification, Kallee Spooner

Undergraduate Review

Increased public concerns of juvenile sex offenders fueled the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006. The media coverage of these adolescents and public perception were influential in the enactment of this policy. Public fear is aroused by isolated incidents of deviance or crime. Media accounts highlight extreme cases, instead of more common incidents of sexual assaults (Harris & Lurigio, 2010). The fear culminates in the forming of groups of experts and concerned citizens that demand reform. Legislators cite media and views of their constituents as their primary sources of information about sex offenses and …


The Effects Of Massachusetts’ Decriminalization Of Marijuana Law On Use Patterns, Keriann Speranza Jan 2011

The Effects Of Massachusetts’ Decriminalization Of Marijuana Law On Use Patterns, Keriann Speranza

Undergraduate Review

The practice of smoking marijuana was imported to the United States from Mexico in the early 1900s. Fear around the use of marijuana provoked sixteen states to pass laws prohibiting the use of marijuana by 1930 (Becker, 1963). It was not until 1937 that the United States Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act to stamp out use of the drug after the Bureau of Narcotics presented to the public in a series of propaganda films and news articles the perceived dangers of marijuana use – including violence (Becker, 1963). Since that law, the United States government has attempted to create …