Beyond the perception and the obvious: what sex offender registries really tell us and why

This work examines the sex offender registries in 49 states in terms of the public information they offer from a social construction and social reality standpoint. Social construction is the dominant perspective for the information given about sex offenders to the point where the market for public information may be failing in this regard. This failure could indeed be caused by how difficult it is for a society to look at such acts, focusing on the offender instead. Oregon and West Virginia emerge as registries higher on social construction and reality than others, though none emerges as clearly the most "informative." Third-party dissemination of information is explored.