Historically, the first form of social control over the perpetrators was the infliction of special mutilation on them. Branding, pulling out nostrils, cutting off ears and fingers left indelible marks indicating a past criminal. In relation to the branded offenders, a social control was established, which was, as a rule, mandatory and universal. Anyone was obliged to report a person with such brands or even to detain them.
However, as this form of marking was abolished, social control did not lose its significance, but has evolved from universal to federal. The need to watch over those who have served a criminal sentence, specifically due to sex crimes, has grown from a complex of reasons. The main ones are the high rate of recidivism among released sex offenders, and the general ineffectiveness of criminal sanctions. The case of Megan Kanka is a direct evidence of both reasons.
Obligatory registration of all offenders has both supporters and opponents. As far as I can see, there are two points of view on the matter. On one hand, the person is convicted of publicly dangerous acts, thus, respectively, society has the right to know who was convicted and for what. In addition, the people, knowing about the criminal the past of a person included in the registers, will be able to independently assess the degree of danger they might present. On the other hand, full access to information of this kind also has a negative side. Community notification will undoubtedly complicate the social adaptation of former convicts, in particular those unwilling to continue the illegal activity, and add to the deterioration of their psychological condition.
Lastly, the psychological stress of living beside an offender, specifically the one who committed sex or children molestation crimes, could be quite a heavy burden on the common people. Gesser’s (2021) study results indicated that “people who came into the meeting with empowerment expectations ended up being concerned, regardless of meeting content and organization and amount of information they received” (p. 1).
I do not think the community notification is very efficient in preventing further crimes – it might be useful, yes, but in my opinion, it brings more bad outcomes than good. Moreover, negative consequences of notification may manifest not only in excessive stigmatization, but also in possible revenge on the part of the victims and other persons, which would contribute to the crime rates.
Reference
Gesser, N. (2021). What you expect is not what you get: The antitherapeutic impact of sex offender community notification meetings on community members. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. Web.