Sex Offender Registry
Don’t Be Ignorant: Educate Yourself
Dana Harmel
SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility
Professor York
January 21, 2012
The youngest person that can be place on the National Sex Offender Registry is age 6. Yes, a kindergarten and be found to be a sexual predator as society puts it. Individuals on the registry are all treated equal by the public no matter the details of their actual crime. Even though the sex offender registry is a positive tool in the protection of society, the registry needs to be evaluated because sexual assault is not the only form of child abuse, non-violent offenders are on the registry, and children are now required to register as offenders.
The ethical problem that society needs to look at is the sex offender registry. The registry is a national registry for people who have committed sex crimes against another human being. The first registry was in California in 1947 however, the most widely known act was not until 1994 (the Jacob Wetterling Act). Megan’s Law proceeded that in 1996 and finally 2007 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Biance, 2009). Now all states have a registry to comply with these laws and regulations. Although underlined meaning of these laws come from a good place, to protect our children and adults from sexual assault they have taken it to the extreme and gotten off the beaten path. Even Patty Wetterling the mother of Jacob had openly criticized the evolution of registry. Her story is heart wrenching and still she can recognized that something needs to change. An individual that has one picture of a naked child, the person that urinates in public, and the man that is 19 dating a 16yr old, the person that pays a prostitute for sex, and the minor crimes go on and on. All of these acts will land you on the registry for 15 or 25 years and possibly life.
I think a deontology is a way to look at a way to resolve this issue. Deontology comes from the Greek deon, which means
Dana Harmel
SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility
Professor York
January 21, 2012
The youngest person that can be place on the National Sex Offender Registry is age 6. Yes, a kindergarten and be found to be a sexual predator as society puts it. Individuals on the registry are all treated equal by the public no matter the details of their actual crime. Even though the sex offender registry is a positive tool in the protection of society, the registry needs to be evaluated because sexual assault is not the only form of child abuse, non-violent offenders are on the registry, and children are now required to register as offenders.
The ethical problem that society needs to look at is the sex offender registry. The registry is a national registry for people who have committed sex crimes against another human being. The first registry was in California in 1947 however, the most widely known act was not until 1994 (the Jacob Wetterling Act). Megan’s Law proceeded that in 1996 and finally 2007 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Biance, 2009). Now all states have a registry to comply with these laws and regulations. Although underlined meaning of these laws come from a good place, to protect our children and adults from sexual assault they have taken it to the extreme and gotten off the beaten path. Even Patty Wetterling the mother of Jacob had openly criticized the evolution of registry. Her story is heart wrenching and still she can recognized that something needs to change. An individual that has one picture of a naked child, the person that urinates in public, and the man that is 19 dating a 16yr old, the person that pays a prostitute for sex, and the minor crimes go on and on. All of these acts will land you on the registry for 15 or 25 years and possibly life.
I think a deontology is a way to look at a way to resolve this issue. Deontology comes from the Greek deon, which means
References: Child Help. (2013). National Child Abuse Statistics. Retrieved from www.childhelp.org/pages /statistics Counter Punch (2007). An Urgent Call to Support the Well-Being of Children and the Rights of Us All. Retrieved from http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/07/10/an-urgent-call-to-support-the-well-being-of-children-and-the-rights-of-us-all/ Deirdre, F. C. (2012, Dec 16). Circles of support extends help to sex offenders. Sunday News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1239136080?accountid=32521 Mosser, K. (2010). Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/ AUSOC120.10.2 /sections/ch00 Prescott, J. J. (2012). Do sex offender registries make us less safe? Regulation, 35(2), 48-55. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1030090057?accountid=32521