The July 2007 issue of Behavioral Sciences and the Law Community presents a study examining the impact of community notification about known sex offenders (also know as "Megan's Law") on the lives of registered sex offenders. Interviews of two hundred and thirty-nine sex offenders in Connecticut and Indiana indicated frequent problems such as job loss, threats and harassment, property damage, and suffering of household members. A minority of the surveyed sex offenders reported housing disruption or physical violence following community notification. Most of the sampled offenders reported problems with psychosocial distress, including depression, shame, and hopelessness. Given the impact that community notification has had on successful community reintegration, the researchers recommend that community notification policies would function better by relying on empirically derived risk assessment classification systems to better inform the public about sex offender danger and to combat the misinformation that frequently arises.
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