How Background Relates to Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Policies Related to Individuals Convicted of Sex Crimes

Abstract

Although research has examined perceptions of child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention and the efficacy of sex offender policies (SOPs), less research compares these perceptions between different backgrounds. We explore these perceptions among North Carolina stakeholders with backgrounds related to (a) victims of CSA, (b) individuals convicted of sex crimes (ICSCs), and/or (c) law enforcement and policymakers. Specifically, we examine how these backgrounds differ in the perceived efficacy of (a) the ability to prevent CSA, (b) containment-based SOPs, and (c) assistance-based SOPs. We find that the victim-focused background was the most optimistic that CSA prevention is possible, and the law and policy background was the most pessimistic. Furthermore, the ICSC-focused background was the least likely to believe in the effectiveness of containment-based strategies and the most likely to believe in the effectiveness of assistance-based strategies. An overlapping victim-and-ICSC background consistently fell in between the views of victim-only and ICSC-only backgrounds.