Citizens\u27 Perceptions on Sex Offender Registration and Notification

The purpose of this study was to examine what factors influence citizens’ perceptions on sex offender registration and notification. The sample consisted of 199 citizens from various malls in Nashville, TN. The independent variables analyzed were age, race, gender, and political ideology. Spearman’s rho was used to determine statistical significance and correlation. The results showed that gender and political ideology had a statistically significant relationship with citizens’ perceptions of sex offender registration and notification. The relationship between race and sex offender laws as it pertains to offenders whose offense involved a child victim and those whose offense involved an adult victim was also statistically significant. All other variables showed no statistically significant relationship