Why is it that Sexual Offending against Children is so Powerful in our Perceptions of what Dangerousness is?

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Why is it that Sexual Offending against Children is so Powerful in our Perceptions of what Dangerousness is?

Many of the perceptions that society have concerning sexual offenders is usually distorted through the influence of the media and other information outlets, and the increased reporting of sex crimes has not only increased visibility but it has also created a public fascination with sex crimes. Media coverage tends to be largely stereotypical, portraying sexual offenders as ‘bad, mad, or sad’ and little attention to causation is paid (Kitzinger & Skidmore, 1995). According to Cobley (2000), ‘paedophile’ has become a household word, with computer research revealing that articles mentioning ‘paedophiles’ now occur on a daily basis compared to over a decade ago when they were rarely mentioned.

Media coverage has raised public awareness and discontent (Home Office, 2001) but many people think that those that would pose the greater risk to them are of the notion of ‘stranger danger’. Many members of society believe that those unknown to them are those that are most likely to be a danger towards them, when in fact it will most likely be someone within the same household as them or someone that is very close to them.

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This distortion has come from highly publicised news stories in the past such as the murder of eight year old Sarah Payne by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000, who took Sarah while she was playing with her brothers and sister near her grandparents house. It was later revealed that Whiting had previous convictions for an earlier sexual offence, and this stimulated debates about the appropriate monitoring of sexual offenders (Thomas, 2003). It has also led to calls for a ‘Sarah’s Law’, whereby local communities would have the right to be informed of the details of those convicted for sexual offences ...

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