Disadvantages Of Megan's Law
Third, the public’s perceptions on Megan’s Law are affected by the media. Most of the people would highly support Megan’s Law as they think that it can act as a public safety measure that can be used to prevent victimization (Levenson, Brann, Fortney, & Baker, 2007). However, they had omitted the disadvantages of the law regarding the inability to reduce the sex offenses as well as the lack of support in finding other ways for the rehabilitation of sex offenders (Schram & Milloy, 1995 as cited in Levenson, D`Amora, & Hern, 2007). This law had created a fake sense of security to the public, as they would want to know whether there are any sex offenders located in their area in order to protect their children. However, research found that it
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Some of them even mentioned that their honesty had succeeded in helping them to receive support by others. Many sex offenders normally keep their secret with them and hide themselves from other people, so some of them think that community notification may help them to be brave to develop intimate relationships and receive social support from others (Levenson & Cotter, 2005). Besides, Levenson, D`Amora, & Hern (2007) did found out that Megan’s Law has a positive effect on some of the sex offender, they found out that they are more willing to handle risks, become more honest to other people, and also thinks that Megan’s Law help to improve the safety of public, hence, they are willing to disclose themselves to the public. However, this is only a minority of the sex offenders. Majority of the sex offenders were found to be having social and psychological problem. They reported that after disclosing themselves, many of them lost their jobs, forced to move away from their house because of residency restrictions, and also being harassed by the public for living there (Levenson & Cotter, 2005; Levenson, D`Amora, & Hern, 2007). Community notification also affects the sex offenders’ family and their daily life as they are discriminated, harassed and refused interaction by the community. And because of these problems, most of the …show more content…
We hope to find effective ways to reduce sex assault cases and also to reduce the risks of recidivism but the public often ignores the shortcomings of the laws. They assume that those laws are tools for them to treat victimization and for them to feel safe from sex offenders. However, Megan’s Law does more harm than good. It does not help the public to reduce the risk of recidivism, while only giving them a false sense of security. Researches that mention above have already shown that when the community was being notified about the sex offenders, they will be more anxious and afraid that they or their child will become the next target, and even cause some of the people to suffer from insomnia. Because of this, sex offenders are not easily accepted by society, and some people might even have radical behaviour against the sex offenders. A few example of documented radical behaviour would be murdering sex offenders and setting fire to sex offenders’ houses (Bonnar-Kidd, 2010). In conclusion, Megan’s law should be revised as it will lead to more drawbacks compared to its
Some of them even mentioned that their honesty had succeeded in helping them to receive support by others. Many sex offenders normally keep their secret with them and hide themselves from other people, so some of them think that community notification may help them to be brave to develop intimate relationships and receive social support from others (Levenson & Cotter, 2005). Besides, Levenson, D`Amora, & Hern (2007) did found out that Megan’s Law has a positive effect on some of the sex offender, they found out that they are more willing to handle risks, become more honest to other people, and also thinks that Megan’s Law help to improve the safety of public, hence, they are willing to disclose themselves to the public. However, this is only a minority of the sex offenders. Majority of the sex offenders were found to be having social and psychological problem. They reported that after disclosing themselves, many of them lost their jobs, forced to move away from their house because of residency restrictions, and also being harassed by the public for living there (Levenson & Cotter, 2005; Levenson, D`Amora, & Hern, 2007). Community notification also affects the sex offenders’ family and their daily life as they are discriminated, harassed and refused interaction by the community. And because of these problems, most of the …show more content…
We hope to find effective ways to reduce sex assault cases and also to reduce the risks of recidivism but the public often ignores the shortcomings of the laws. They assume that those laws are tools for them to treat victimization and for them to feel safe from sex offenders. However, Megan’s Law does more harm than good. It does not help the public to reduce the risk of recidivism, while only giving them a false sense of security. Researches that mention above have already shown that when the community was being notified about the sex offenders, they will be more anxious and afraid that they or their child will become the next target, and even cause some of the people to suffer from insomnia. Because of this, sex offenders are not easily accepted by society, and some people might even have radical behaviour against the sex offenders. A few example of documented radical behaviour would be murdering sex offenders and setting fire to sex offenders’ houses (Bonnar-Kidd, 2010). In conclusion, Megan’s law should be revised as it will lead to more drawbacks compared to its