Fall survival, movements, and habitat use of American woodcock in ...
Fall survival, movements, and habitat use of American woodcock in ...
Fall survival, movements, and habitat use of American woodcock in ...
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664 HUGHES AND BURCHFIELDDownloaded by [Northern Ill<strong>in</strong>ois University] at 20:01 22 February 2013number <strong>of</strong> all child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders (Musta<strong>in</strong>e et al., 2006b), conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g roughly 30percent <strong>of</strong> the 2,025 <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>in</strong> our sample. With just 30 percent <strong>of</strong> all liv<strong>in</strong>gspace left open to accommodate this many <strong>of</strong> the city’s child sex <strong>of</strong>fender population,it is no surprise that disadvantaged neighborhoods were found to havecomparatively high rates <strong>of</strong> “violators” <strong>and</strong> “violations,” as well as lower me<strong>and</strong>istances between child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> parks, schools, <strong>and</strong> daycares.Together, these f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs suggest that the physical structure <strong>of</strong> communitiesresults <strong>in</strong> un<strong>in</strong>tended consequences <strong>of</strong> sex <strong>of</strong>fender residence restrictions.Although disadvantaged neighborhoods have no shortage <strong>of</strong> parks, schools, <strong>and</strong>daycares, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> this sense do not contradict environmental justice st<strong>and</strong>ards(see also Mladenka, 1980), 23 beca<strong>use</strong> they tend to be relatively small <strong>and</strong>encompass a disproportionate share <strong>of</strong> prohibited sites, the 500-foot rule has amuch greater impact on available residential space for child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>in</strong>these neighborhoods than is the case <strong>in</strong> affluent neighborhoods. The data also<strong>in</strong>dicate, however, that despite legal proscriptions, registered child sex <strong>of</strong>fenderscont<strong>in</strong>ue—more than seven years after the first residence restrictions <strong>and</strong>nearly three years after the most recent—to be concentrated <strong>in</strong> disadvantagedneighborhoods <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> relatively close proximity to prohibited sites. Thus, ratherthan keep<strong>in</strong>g child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders from liv<strong>in</strong>g near children, our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs suggestthat residence restrictions <strong>in</strong> Chicago do little more than superimpose yetanother legal barrier to prisoner reentry, <strong>and</strong> a further burden on the veryneighborhoods <strong>in</strong> which many <strong>of</strong> these <strong>of</strong>fenders, like the vast majority <strong>of</strong>prisoners reenter<strong>in</strong>g society, have no choice but to live.Among the limitations <strong>of</strong> this study, reliance on data from a s<strong>in</strong>gle city isperhaps the most serious. While Chicago’s 500-foot distance requirement isamong the least restrictive <strong>in</strong> the country, quite different f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs may beobta<strong>in</strong>ed elsewhere. This is precisely why further research concern<strong>in</strong>g theenvironmental relationships here exam<strong>in</strong>ed is needed. Future research shouldalso attend to the full range <strong>of</strong> sites protected by law. Although there is limitedevidence to suggest a geographic l<strong>in</strong>k between sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> their victims,our <strong>in</strong>ability to locate victim residence data may be a significant shortcom<strong>in</strong>g.Another potential problem concerns errors <strong>in</strong> the data. Other studies havefound that <strong>in</strong>formation from state sex <strong>of</strong>fender registries <strong>of</strong>ten is <strong>in</strong>accurate <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>complete (Hughes & Kadleck, 2008; Levenson & Cotter, 2005a; Tewksbury,2002, 2005, 2006), <strong>and</strong> we cannot be sure <strong>of</strong> the level <strong>of</strong> error conta<strong>in</strong>ed with<strong>in</strong>the shapefiles <strong>and</strong> daycare data <strong>use</strong>d here, despite multiple checks <strong>and</strong> corrections<strong>of</strong> the data. However, the high rates <strong>of</strong> geocod<strong>in</strong>g accuracy suggest thatthe total amount <strong>of</strong> error <strong>in</strong> these data does not pose a serious threat to thereliability <strong>of</strong> our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs.F<strong>in</strong>ally, our data do not permit direct assessment <strong>of</strong> the effects <strong>of</strong> residencerestrictions on sex <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>and</strong> communities. Beca<strong>use</strong> we were not able t<strong>of</strong>ollow child sex <strong>of</strong>fenders over time or dist<strong>in</strong>guish adequately between those23. Note that our analyses cannot speak to environmental justice arguments that focus more on thequality <strong>and</strong> cultural specificity <strong>of</strong> built environments than on basic access (see Frumk<strong>in</strong>, 2005).