Social Control of Sex Offenders

D. Richard Laws received his PhD from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, USA, in 1969. He has held professional positions in California, Florida, and two Canadian provinces. He is a past president of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. He has published eight books and numerous articles on research and treatment. Currently, he is an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham, UK.

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Moral Panic: Threat to the Social Order.- Chapter 3. Early Historical Treatment of Social Deviance.- Chapter 4. The Medicalization of Deviance: Sex Offender as Mental Patient.- Chapter 5. The Sexual Psychopath/Predator Laws: Legal Construction of Deviance.- Chapter 6. Assessment of Risk to Reoffend: Historical Background.- Chapter 7. Assessment of Risk to Reoffend: Actuarial Assessment vs Risk Formulation.- Chapter 8. Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification.- Chapter 9. Community Restrictions on Sex Offender Behavior.- Chapter 10. The International Picture of Social Control.- Chapter 11. Psychological Treatment: Risk Reducer or Life Enhancer?- Chapter 12. Conclusions and Future Outlook.

"D. Richard Laws traces the rise of the modern sex offender containment industry back through time, from the U.S. colonial era through the 19th century's medicalization of deviance and onward to efforts at scientific crime control and prediction by early 20th century criminologists. ... Those within the industry will appreciate his insider perspective on the contemporary debates in risk assessment and treatment, while the public and policymakers will benefit from his sensible recommendations for modest reforms." (Karen Franklin, Amazon.com, January, 2017) "For those wishing to understand the historical context of sex offender management, Laws's book is a good place to start. ... He traces the history of moral panics and the resulting sex offender management methods back to colonial America, a historical analysis that I have not seen in similar works. Another unusual feature of Social Control of Sex Offenders is a chapter on international methods of sex offender management." (Philip H. Witt, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 61 (46), November, 2016)