Reconciling Sexual Offender Management Policy, Research, and Practice

Abstract

The present chapter examines contemporary sex offender management policy and its historical, social, and political antecedents, with a particular focus on those factors that have contributed to the current state of affairs. In so doing, the chapter aims to inform more effective efforts by the research and practitioner communities to elevate the role of evidence in the design and implementation of effective public policies to reduce sexual violence in society. The chapter includes five main sections-the first providing historical background describing the evolution of contemporary sex offender management policy, the second offering an overview of the data regarding the problem of sexual violence in American society, the third identifying and discussing the scope and key trends associated with current sex offender management policies, the fourth examining the major themes and patterns in current sex offender management policy and the challenges associated with bringing evidence into the sex offender management policy process, and the fifth providing a blueprint for action on the part of researchers and practitioners in the sex offender management field, with the goal of translating what is known about evidence-based practice into the realm of evidence-based policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)