When monsters make policies - Professor's new book examines sex crime policy in America

The high school senior accused of statutory rape against his sophomore girlfriend. The construction worker fined for indecency and branded a sex offender for life after taking an outdoor bathroom break. The family members of registered sex offenders who face public ridicule, anger and limited employment and housing opportunities. Their situations aren't unique, according to Chrysanthi Leon, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware. Rather, she says, they're examples of what happens when "laws passed with the bogeyman in mind are applied to real people."

Her new book, Sex Fiends, Perverts, and Pedophiles: Understanding Sex Crime Policy in America, examines the history and evolution of offenders - viewed in various points within the past century as nuisances, psychopaths, patients and monsters - and explains how we've reached a current tough-on-crime, one-size-fits-all approach.

source: Article 'When monsters make policies - Professor's new book examines sex crime policy in America' by Artika Rangan; www.udel.edu/udaily/2012/jul/sex-crime-policy-070711.html; University of Delaware; 7 July 2011