Description
Book SynopsisThe 1990s witnessed a flurry of legislative initiatives designed to control a population of sex offenders (child abusers) widely reviled as sick, evil, and incurable. In
Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control, Diana Rickard provides the reader with an in-depth view of six such men, exploring how they manage to cope with their highly stigmatized role as social outcasts.
Trade Review"A timely and important book … Readers unfamiliar with the functions and consequences of sex offender registration and community notification laws will find an engaging, easy-to-read discussion of such policies. Scholars familiar with sex offender registration and community notification will likewise find value here – value that is centered on the focus of what creates the negative outcomes for individuals, and not just the collateral consequences." * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books *
“[
Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control] may be very useful for other scholars exploring identity construction and integration as well as the ways people make sense, narrate, and respond to stigma in the course of their lives… It does provide an intriguing and nuanced portrait of the ways such dynamics play out in relation to one of the most controversial and heavily stigmatized social locations in contemporary society.” * Symbolic Interaction *
"Rickard’s work is an important one on a subject that has not adequately been studied, namely the status of sex offenders and the present ‘moral panic.’ Clear, organized, and well-researched,
Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control is both distinctive and brave." -- Lynn Chancer * Hunter College *
"Draws on interviews in a study of six men convicted of a sexual offense against a minor; focuses on their self-perceptions and experience of social stigma and isolation after incarceration or lesser sanction." * Chronicle *
"A timely and important book … Readers unfamiliar with the functions and consequences of sex offender registration and community notification laws will find an engaging, easy-to-read discussion of such policies. Scholars familiar with sex offender registration and community notification will likewise find value here – value that is centered on the focus of what creates the negative outcomes for individuals, and not just the collateral consequences." * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books *
"Rickard’s work is an important one on a subject that has not adequately been studied, namely the status of sex offenders and the present ‘moral panic.’ Clear, organized, and well-researched,
Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control is both distinctive and brave." -- Lynn Chancer * Hunter College *
“[
Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control] may be very useful for other scholars exploring identity construction and integration as well as the ways people make sense, narrate, and respond to stigma in the course of their lives… It does provide an intriguing and nuanced portrait of the ways such dynamics play out in relation to one of the most controversial and heavily stigmatized social locations in contemporary society.” * Symbolic Interaction *
"Draws on interviews in a study of six men convicted of a sexual offense against a minor; focuses on their self-perceptions and experience of social stigma and isolation after incarceration or lesser sanction." * Chronicle *
Table of ContentsContentsAcknowledgements1 Towards a Sociology of Sexual Offense2 Constructing the Offense3 Community Bonds4 Severed Bonds5 Strategies to Re-Establish Social Bonds6 Personal Stories/Public PolicyAppendixNotesBibliographyIndex
