Does casting out sex offenders encourage them to offend again?

Does publicly posting the names and addresses of paroled sex offenders make our communities safer? Public notification laws on the books in Michigan and every other state are founded on the assumption that it does -- and that those convicted of sex-related crimes are much less likely to reoffend if their neighbors know who they are, what they did and where they live. But a new study that examines 10 years of data from 15 states suggests that sex offenders may actually be more likely to commit new sex crimes when they are "outed" on online registries.

source: Article 'Does casting out sex offenders encourage them to offend again?' by Brian Dickerson; www.freep.com/article/20111002/COL04/110020491/Does-casting-out-sex-offenders-encourage-them-offend-again-; Detroit Free Press; 2 October 2011