Discrimination Against High Risk Sex

Discrimination Against High Risk Sex Offenders Even when denoting truly violent offenders, demonization of any class of individual as being beyond redemption and/or devoid of humanity proves not only destructive, but wrong. Contemporary laws, albeit, routinely brand any transgressor of under-age sex rules as a "sexual predator," even when no violence or force is alleged, and even if the young person is an only a few days from the age of consent. Most sexual contact between adults and minors occurs among family and friends.

Without doubt, however, children deserve to be protected from sexual abuser...period. Not acknowledging sexual predators are also human, however, stigmatizes these individuals amdcontinues to cover of the roots of such crimes. These type negative actions also hinder/prevent individuals, previously branded as sexual offenders, from successful re-integrating into society when they are rehabilitated. This type of discrimination, along with signaling a breakdown in civil society, contributes to further disparaging and detrimental divisions in society.

The proposed Capstone, a qualitative research study, will utilize the case study research design to examine factors contributing to possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders by police and society. Along with exploring a myriad of literature, retrieved through the literature review, the researcher plans to create and conduct a survey of both high risk sex offenders, and police officers.

Possible Discrimination against High Risk Sex Offenders CHAPTER I Introduction Dehumanizing Sex Offenders In "Nothing more vile than sex offenders,'" Lori Rackl and Chris Fusco (2005) cite Illinois Governor Blagojevich to demonize sex offenders, stating: "There's nothing more vile than sex offenders. We have to do everything in our power to keep them away from our children and our communities" (Blagojevich, as cited in Rackl and Fusco, ¶ 3).

Even when denoting truly violent offenders, however, demonization of any class of individuals, purporting them as being beyond redemption and/or devoid of humanity, according to Suarez-Potts et al. (1998) in "A call to safeguard our children and our liberties," proves not only destructive, but - wrong.

In light of current challenging perceptions relating to high risk sex offenders, the proposed study contends that consequences of demonizing high risk sex offenders, which may lead to police failing to respond in a timely manner to the need/s of sex offenders in police and societal interactions, constitute possible discrimination against these individuals. Possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders, something not routinely addressed, in fact a practice frequently denied, constitutes a viable concern.

Although true sexual abuse must not be tolerated, and not only be spoken out against, but also exposed, with sex offenders held accountable for their crimes, contemporary laws currently "brand any transgressor of under-age sex rules as a 'sexual predator,' even when no violence or force is alleged, and even when the young person is a month or a day shy of the legal age of consent" (Suarez-Potts et al., ¶ 1). Non-sexual violence and murder of children, according to Suarez-Potts, et al.

(1998), is as pervasive as sexual violence, however, most child abuse, does not relate to sex, and is too often kept concealed within families and communities. Despite the fact that physical abuse, malnutrition, poverty, and inadequate health care, along with a myriad of other forms of abuse, threaten millions of young people in the United States, no national commitment exists to stop these deadly, pervasive forms of harm to children. Instead, any case involving sex rivets the attention by society (Suarez-Potts, et al.).

What may not be readily recognized, however, is that most sexual abuse between adults and minors occurs among friends and/or family members. Those friends and/or family members convicted of sex crimes, even after they have served their sentences, no matter what the circumstances, even if they have been rehabilitated, continue to draw an inordinate amount of society's attention, as well as, at times, ongoing punishment for their crimes. What and whom society chooses to punish, along with how severely, according to Amanda C.

Pustilnik (2005), Associate, Covington & Buffing, in "Prisons of the mind: Social value and economic inefficiency in the criminal justice response to mental illness" (Kahan, as cited in Pustilnik, 2005, ¶ 1), reflects what or whom a society values. Public response relating to the choice between public health alternatives or criminal confinement for individuals with mental illnesses "indicates that a social value is placed on the criminal confinement of people with mental illnesses" (Pustilnik, 2005, ¶ 1).

In addition, individuals with mental illness in criminal confinement are routinely punished more severely; for example, they receive longer sentences, as well as, serve a higher percentage of their sentence than their counterparts who do not struggle with mental illnesses. High risk sex offenders, some of whom are mentally ill, also seem to garner more severe punishment, in and outside criminal confinement, than their counterparts who may have committed other, some even more heinous, crimes. Without doubt, individuals, particularly children, deserve to be protected from sexual abusers - period.

Not acknowledging sexual predators are also human, however, or permanently stigmatizing these individuals does not uncover of the roots of such crimes, nor attribute to decreasing and/or halting their occurrence. Along with signaling a breakdown in civil society, these type negative actions also hinder/prevent individuals, previously branded as sexual offenders, from re-integration into society when they are rehabilitated.

Virtual, as well as, possible discrimination against high-risk sex offenders not only constitutes a problem for the individuals being discriminated against, but also for police practicing discrimination, as the practice averts their attention from their duty to serve and protect. Discrimination also adversely affects others in society in the U.S.

As individuals who may be truly rehabilitated, and possess the potential to be productive members of society may be alienated from others in their communities due to discrimination, they may also be separated from opportunities to reveal ways to help decrease incidences of sex abuse. Statement of Problem The phrase "sex offender" traditionally evokes perceptions of child predators and/or sadistic rapists, beyond redemption and/or devoid of humanity.

Consequently, for a number of years, preventing these types of crimes has constituted a vital concern for policymakers at all levels of government, as well as, for police and everyday members in a community. In the quest to prevent sexual offenses, however, police may at times fail to respond in a timely manner to the need/s for assistance of sex offenders, in turn demonizing, and practicing possible discrimination against these individuals.

Therefore, the proposed study purports to explore the contemporary double-edge concern relating to possible discrimination by police against high risk sex offenders, along with the potential consequences to high risk sex offenders, police and others in society, and ultimately proffer alternative considerations to more positively address this challenging, contemporary concern. Hypothesis and Research Question The information/data analyzed for the proposed Capstone, categorized as a qualitative case study, will evolve from a methodical review of literature; along with data retrieved from a survey the researcher crafts and conducts.

During the evolution of the proposed study, the researcher will seek to determine the validity of the following hypothesis: Hypothesis The hypothesis for the proposed Capstone project purports: When police fail to respond to the need/s of sex offenders, who have served time for their crime, in a timely manner, and/or individuals in society participate in discriminatory acts such as vigilantism, present counters to re-integration, or enforce "live free from sex offender zones," then the ensuing possible discrimination against sex offenders negatively impacts society as a whole.

The following research questions, which serve to help maintain the proposed study's focus, while serving as a foundation for the proposed study, include: Who are high risk sex offenders? How do/es some members of society/society discriminate against high risk sex offenders? What need/s of high risk sex offenders do police sometimes fail to respond to and/or ignore? How do police and societal interactions with high risk sex offenders affect society as a whole? Significance of the Study The researcher's initial interest in possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders evolved during the course of managing these individuals as part of the researcher's every day job functions.

In addition, personal experience/s of dealing with sex offenders has afforded the researcher insight as to challenges these individuals must overcome after probation/parole. The knowledge gained during this semester through academic realms further stimulated the researcher's interest and contributed to the researcher choosing this topic for the proposed Capstone study. Along with witnessing others discriminate against high risk sex offenders, the researcher has, on occasion, in non-emergency situations "drug his feet" when responding to calls where the victim was also a sex offender.

When the nature of the call proved to be serious, however, the researcher immediately responded. Accounts of discrimination against high risk sex offenders, which stimulated the researcher's determination to further examine factors lending to this contemporary offense, simultaneously fostered the hope of ultimately proffering some positive considerations for police, and others in society.

Results from the proposed study, the researcher contends, might be utilized to stimulate consideration of more positive ways to interact with high risk sex offenders, which in turn, could benefit not only high risk sex offenders, but also police and society as a whole. If police, along with others in society, perceive high risk sex offenders as humans who possess the potential to be rehabilitated, then incidences of possible discrimination against these individuals might decrease.

This in turn, the researcher contends, could contribute to incidences of sexual offences being prevented and/or reduced. Even though the researcher never generally cared about how high risk sex offenders felt, the conviction that discrimination is wrong over-rode the researcher's non-committal, and in turn, spurred the determination to expose the problem of discrimination in this area.

Not only does the researcher hope to expose the problem of discrimination shrouding a population the majority in society would prefer not to deal with, the researcher also hopes to perhaps offer a possible solution; a tinge of hope for a brighter future of fewer incidents of sexual offences against young ones in society.

Research Design and Methodology The following five chapters constitute the body of the proposed Capstone study: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Review of the Literature Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: Analysis Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusions Chapter I: Introduction Chapter one introduces the proposed Capstone's focus, relates the context of the problem for the study's, the problem statement, the hypothesis with four research questions to be addressed, the significance of the study, along with the research methodology the researcher will utilized to complete the Capstone.

Chapter II: Review of the Literature Chapter two presents a sampling of current literature the researcher will retrieve from researched articles; books; etc. relevant to resolving the research problem, totaling at least 20 sources. The researcher will later methodically examine the information accessed for the proposed literature review chapter to address the research questions crafted for the proposed Capstone.

Themes examined during the proposed literature review will include: High risk sex offenders; Possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders; Need/s of high risk sex offenders that police may fail to respond to and/or ignore; and Ways police and societal interactions with high risk sex offenders affect society as a whole. Chapter III: Methodology Chapter three denotes that the researcher plans to use qualitative research for the proposed Capstone, implementing the case study research design.

The researcher plans to methodically examine information accessed for the proposed literature review chapter, along with data retrieved from the proposed survey to answer the research questions. Chapter IV: Analysis Chapter four critically analyzes information/data retrieved from the literature review and completed surveys to present findings relevant to the Capstone's focus. Chapter V: Summary and Conclusions Chapter five proffers a synopsis of relevant findings from the retrieved, analyzed researched information, along with data retrieved and analyzed from completed surveys.

This chapter will also relate the researcher's concluding thoughts and recommendations for future study in the researcher area. In addition, during the final chapter of the proposed study, the researcher relates a sure, succinct, statement of the proposed Capstone's significance, as well as recounts the answers for the study's research questions, which will ultimately determine the validity of the study's hypothesis. As the researcher enters the next phase of the proposal for the forthcoming Capstone, the Literature Review chapter, a number of "truths" evolve regarding advertising connections to Boomers.

This next chapter continues this researcher's quest to enhance the understanding of effectively marketing to Boomers in advertisements, particularly TV, to help ensure they experience more certain fiscal futures. CHAPTER II Literature Review Chapter two, as noted in the introduction for the proposed Capstone, will present an array of current literature, relating to this study's focus, which the researcher will retrieve from researched articles; books; etc. relevant to resolving the research problem, totaling at least 20 sources.

This segment of the proposal for the forthcoming study denotes a sampling of the future research efforts. Themes examined during the proposed literature review will include: High risk sex offenders; Possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders; Need/s of high risk sex offenders that police may fail to respond to and/or ignore; and Ways police and societal interactions with high risk sex offenders affect society as a whole.

High Risk Sex Offenders HRSOs In California on August 15, 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created the High Risk Sex Offender Task Force, through Executive Order S-08-06, to minimize risks a sexually violent predator (SVP) may pose to public safety as they are treated, placed and supervised in the community. The ensuring report related ten recommendations associated with the placement of high risk sex offenders (HRSOs) in local communities.

Ultimately, the Task Force and recognized the need for ongoing discussions for improvements regarding considerations for HRSOs and SVPs, and recommended continuing exploration of ways to the improvement of the processes of notification, placement, and monitoring of SVPs ("California High Risk Sex," 2006, Executive Summary, p. v).

The "California High Risk Sex Offender and Sexually Violent Predator Task Force" (2006) report, presented to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during 1996, purports that the Sexually Violent Predator Act set up a new category of civil commitment for sex offenders, predicated to propose extreme danger to society when released from prison. This minute group of sex offender inmates has been diagnosed with identifiable mental disorders, identified while the inmate was incarcerated.

After a Superior Court identifies the inmate as a SVP in a civil proceeding by, when the sex offender's prison term expires, he/she is confined for treatment in a state mental hospital that the Department of Mental Health (DMH) operates ("California High Risk Sex," Executive Summary, p. v).

In California, despite the fact a SVP remains confined after his/her prison term ends, the confinement's purpose is reportedly not punitive, but for treatment of his/her disorder until the threat he/she poses to the health and safety of others diminishes. The SVP's treatment consists of five phases; "four are in-patient while the SVP is confined to the state mental hospital.

The fifth phase is an out-patient phase of conditional release, where the SVP is placed back in the community and supervised by the designated Conditional Release Program under strict terms and conditions" ("California High Risk Sex," 2006, Executive Summary, p. v). To date, the four in-patient phases required a minimum of four years for existing SVPs to complete. The time required for SVPS to complete the conditional release phase is one year.

After this time span, the Superior Court determines whether the SVP receives an annual renewal of his/her conditional release. During 2006, 80,000 sex offenders, released from California prisons over the term of the Sexually Violent Predator Act, were registered there. Since the Sexually Violent Predator Act took effect, 552 individuals were committed to California's mental hospitals as SVPs. Another 180 had commitment trials pending. In 2006, seven SVPs had been conditionally released from California mental hospitals, with four more ordered to be released pending placement.

Superior Court unconditionally released 135 SVPs after they no longer met statutory SVP criteria. The majority of the 135 unconditionally released SVPs had not participated in any in-patient treatment, nor did they have remaining parole time. Even though the California DMH reportedly works with local law enforcement and officials when the state conditionally or unconditionally releases SVPs, both the DMH and the SVP have to contend with challenges related to ensuring adequate notification, securing appropriate placement, and sustaining high standards of supervision and monitoring ("California High Risk Sex," 2006, Executive Summary, p. v).

One recommendation the High Risk Sex Offender Task Force makes proves particularly significant: "The State of California should have a uniform definition for a high risk sex offender ("California High Risk Sex," 2006, a-3). In Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment, D. Richard Laws, and William T. O'Donohue (2008) note that according to the American Psychiatric Association, the definition in the DSM-IV-TR, deviant sexual behavior constitutes a "symptom of a dysfunction in the individual" (p. 2).

Laws and O'Donohue purport, however, that how included categories of dysfunction "meet the standard, or why some categories such as rape or homosexuality do not" (Ibid.) are not explicitly stated. Principles utilized for decisions regarding what should and/or should not be included, unfortunately, are not clear, and consequently need to be improved.

The DSM-IV conceptualizes each mental disorder as: clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress [e.g., a painful symptom] or disability (i.e., impairment in one of more important areas of functioning) or with a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom. In addition, this symptom of pattern must not be merely an expectable sanctioned response to a particular event, for example, the death of a loved one.

Whatever its original cause, it must currently be considered a manifestation of a behavioral, psychotically, or biological dysfunction to the individual. Neither deviant behavior [e.g., political, religious, or sexual) nor conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict is a symptom of a dysfunction in the individual, as described above. (American Psychiatric Association, as cited in Laws, & O'Donohue, 2008, p.

2) Treatment for High Risk Sexual Offenders Literature reveals that a number of reports assert that psychological treatment of sex offenders does in fact reveal positive results. Typically, albeit, no large-scale investigations confirm that a specific intervention proves to be effective with a particular population (Laws, & O'Donohue, 2008, p. 11). According to Craig and colleagues (Craig and colleagues, as cited in Laws, & O'Donohue, 2008, p.

11), two essential points relate to the evaluation of sex offender treatment: Methodological differences in treatment and recidivism research make it difficult to assess treatment efficacy, ultimately affecting predictive accuracy of recidivism. There's a small but increasing number of treatment and meta-analytic studies using robust methodologies that demonstrate positive treatment effects. (Laws & O'Donohue, 2008, p. 11) Even though a number of studies reveal positive findings from treatments of sexual offenders, a number of researchers continue to remain pessimistic regarding the efficacy of sexual offender treatment.

Those who challenge that treatment produces positive results "argue that there is simply no good evidence that treatment of any sort is effective with sex offenders, and in particular that the effect of this of psychological treatment for sex offenders remains to be demonstrated" (Laws, & O'Donohue, 2008, p. 12). Losel and Schmucker, nevertheless, utilizing a broad definition of "recidivism," which ranged from incarceration to behavioural lapses, concluded treatment does substantially affect sexual recidivism. According to these researchers, cognitive-behavioral interventions contribute the greatest impact for lowering recidivism rates (Ibid.).

Possible Discrimination against High Risk Sex Offenders Strict laws specifically target sex offenders. Sex offenders, in fact, are the only class of convicted felons traditionally forced to register, along with having their names and pictures posted on websites; accessible to the public. This contemporary innovation followed "well-publicized brutal sexual assaults and murders of children by previously convicted sex offenders living inconspicuously near their victims" (Durlin, 2006, Political Response section ¶ 1).

During 1990, states started to pass "Megan's Laws," after Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old girl from New Jersey was sexually victimized, and murdered by a neighbor. Prior to Megan's death, community residents did not know her murderer had been convicted twice for sexual offences (Durlin, 2006, Political Response section ¶ 1).

"Megan's Laws, also known as sex offender registration acts (SORAs), require offenders to register promptly when they are released from prison, and also mandate that sex offenders convicted in the past now register themselves with their local police department" (Durlin, 2006, Political Response section ¶2).

The goal for this legal stance is to purportedly place a face on sex offenders, which in turn reportedly will keep them from preying on society's most vulnerable members / Although Megan's laws were state-created, they essentially became mandatory, as Congress passed legislation that made 10% of all federal law enforcement funding to the state contingent on the state enforcing an acceptable sex offender registration law (Ibid.).

Along with the sex offender registration law, some local officials [police included] and legislators have sought for even harsher measures to be applicable to high risk sex offenders. Albuquerque's (New Mexico) mayor proposed that sex offenders' photos and descriptions be posted at the zoo, and other places children congregate. He reportedly believed that the sexual "offender surrendered his [/her] [constitutional] rights when he [/she] committed his [/her] first attack" (Albuquerque's mayor, as cited in Durlin, 2006, Political Response ¶ 3).

Consequently, according to Albuquerque's mayor, as well as a number of other individuals, a high risk sexual offender's rights should not be a concern or consideration when a sex offender policy is formulated. City officials in Rochester, New York, county officials in Cook County, Illinois, and state officials in South Carolina specifically prohibit sex offenders from having any sort of contact with or celebrating Halloween.

In response to increasingly arduous restrictions, one commentator conclude that even though some politicians may honestly attempts to protect the public, they may sometimes go too far; neglecting to consider unintended consequences" (Durlin, 2006, Political Response ¶ 3). Some police and others in society, at times appear to forget that those convicted of sexual crimes, came out of communities and families, Suarez-Potts et al.

(1998) contends in "A call to safeguard our children and our liberties." In the name of protecting children, a number of forms of state repression may, in fact, inadvertently incite prejudices against high risk sex offenders.

Possible discrimination occurs, as states promote: new censorship laws; registries to track people for life and expose them to public ridicule; civil commitment to incarcerate those not convicted of a crime but deemed "dangerous"; life-time parole for sex offenders in some states; and mandatory life sentences without parole for second offenses; thought police empowered to monitor those imprisoned, on parole, or under "civil detention" with mandatory lie detector tests and aversive therapy in some jurisdictions; mandatory reporting laws that turn doctors and therapists into agents of the state; prohibitions against freedom of association; and extra territoriality - allowing prosecution of citizens for behavior outside the state or nation, even when that behavior is legal in the other jurisdiction.(Suarez-Potts et al., 1998, ¶ 5) Suarez-Potts et al.

(1998) argues that assaults such as these on civil liberties currently exist because the majority of individuals are not willing to risk being perceived as "soft on child molesters" (¶ 5). Civil liberties, Suarez-Potts et al. insists are not divisible; that suppressive state control threatens each individual, and may not only be applied only to "bad" people. Campaigns such as these erect barriers between adults and children, as caring adults may consequently fear that signs of normal affection could be branded as abuse.

In turn, the fear may contribute to parents, teachers, or strangers withholding what children and youth need: respectful attention and affection (Suarez-Potts et al., ¶ 6). Need/S of High Risk Sex Offenders That Police May Fail to Respond to and/or Ignore in "Keeping watch -- Sex offenders face lots of supervision," Lucinda Dillon Kinkead, and Dennis Romboy (2008) report that lawmaker Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, argues that Utah must begin to better monitor sex offenders.

"Ray is one lawmaker who closely watches sex offenders and even believes those convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a child or rape of a child should get the death penalty" (Kinkead & Romboy, ¶ 61). In "Sex offender count is up police chief wants to know why," Lisa Kocian (2005) reports that Police Chief Steven Carl determines to find out why the number of sex offenders rose in his town.

"Carl said offenders have rights, but if it's determined that the vast majority are not Framingham natives and are here as clients of social service programs, then he would ask the town manager and selectmen if it's possible to ask agencies to accept fewer of them" (Kocian, ¶ 3). Carl reports his department to be particualry "proactive" when it comes to monitoring sex offenders; that they take the practice seriously (Kocian, ¶ ¶ 17-18).

Emily Ramshaw (2006) reports in "Do cities go too far to restrict sex offenders?: For backers, it's about protecting kids; others call efforts misguided," that Tim O'Hare, a Farmers Branch City Council member [Dallas, Texas] has a message for sex offenders. The message: "Hey, you know what, people in Farmers Branch don't want you" (¶ 7). Rationale contributing to this type thinking, according to Ramshaw, includes: In a 2003 recidivism study, the U.S.

Justice Department found that about 5% of all sex offenders released from prison were rearrested for another sex crime within three years. Three percent of all child sex offenders were arrested for another sex crime against a child in the same time period. Richardson sex offender treatment counselor F. Liles Arnold said drug offenders and burglars reoffend at least as often as sex offenders. Because sex offenses are more devastating, he said, they get more attention.

(Ramshaw, 2006, ¶ 7) Ways Police and Societal Interactions with High Risk Sex Offenders Affect Society as a Whole. In "Never Going Home: Does it Make Us Safer? Does it Make Sense? Sex Offenders, Residency Restrictions, and Reforming Risk Management Law," C. Durlin (2006) reports that numerous courts in the United States routinely decree that exceptionally harsh punishments be meted out to sex offenders, as the following reflects: Judges have conditioned the release of offenders on them placing signs on their front lawns identifying themselves to all passersby as sex offenders.

A federal district court judge in Arizona was twice overruled by the Ninth Circuit for imposing rigorous probation restrictions on a man facing marijuana charges who had been convicted fifteen years earlier of sexual contact with a teenage female. A twelve-year-old boy in Illinois was permanently banished (along with his family) from his community, and made to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, a shockingly harsh sentence handed out by a juvenile court and upheld by the state's supreme court.

(Durlin, 2006, Judicial Response ¶ 1) When a law imposes additional punishment on a person following his/her initial sentence being decreed, the law deems that particular law to be punitive and denounces it as an impermissible ex post facto law. In fact, Durlin (2006) explains, the "ex post facto clause of Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution [specifically] prohibits a law from imposing additional punishment for a sentenced crime after the initial sentence has been handed down" (Ex Post Facto Analysis section, ¶ 1).

When a law imposes extra punishment on the individual, then the law proves to be punitive; an impermissible ex post facto law (Durling Ex Post Facto Analysis section, ¶ 1). Due to different perceptions regarding sex offences, laws, as well as punishment for sex offences differ. Sex offenders in Utah, for instance, traditionally serve more prison time than other inmates, such as drug offenders.

Jesse Gallegos, a member of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole recognizes the Board is expected to be able to foresee whether an individual will reoffend when released from prison on parole. Gallegos, however, realizes the task of predicting whether or not a high risk sex offender or any inmate will reoffend when released from prison to be not only a grave responsibility but an impossible job.

Predicting human behavior, according to Gallegos constitutes an impossible job, with no guarantee that a parolee will or will not reoffend (Gallegos, as cited in Kinkead & Romboy, 2008, ¶ 76). This sampling of literature presented for the proposed Capstone, the researcher perceives, predictably reveals that dramatically differences of opinions exist regarding the potential for high risk sex abusers to be rehabilitated. During the next chapter, the researcher relates the method proposed to examine the information/data retrieved from the literature review chapter and survey results to address the Capstone's research questions.

No guarantee exists, albeit, what the end results from the implementation of the methodology will confirm. CHAPTER III Methodology For the proposed Capstone project, the researcher plans to conduct qualitative research, utilizing the case study research design to examine factors contributing to possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders by police and society. Along with exploring a myriad of literature, retrieved through the literature review, the researcher plans to create and conduct a survey of both high risk sex offenders, and police officers.

During the proposed study's inception, the researcher plans to access relevant literature, and then categorize the retrieved information into four headings, relating to each of the four research questions. The researcher notes information Auston, Cahn, and Selden (2004), presented during the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Office of the Forum for Quality and Effectiveness in Health Care, Forum Methodology Conference, which stresses that the review of literature constitutes a major factor in any research effort.

Auston, Cahn, and Selden also assert that the search process mandates that after a researcher assess information/data relating to the focus of his/her study, he/she then must meticulously manage and analyze information/data retrieved during his/her search process. For the proposed Capstone study, the researcher plans to extensively search for, retrieve and analyze relevant information. No specialized software will be used during the literature search process, nor will any be utilized for the ensuring research process. An effective suggested research design, according to Robert K.

Yin (Yin, as cited by Case Studies 2008) includes the five following components: study's questions, study's propositions (if applicable), study's units of analysis, The logic linking of the data to the propositions, and the criteria for interpreting the findings.

(Case Studies 2008) Along with noting the five basic or similar constructive components that Yin asserts as vital for a study, the researcher plans to: (a) plainly articulate goals for the forthcoming study, b) select appropriate method(s) to collect data, and - ultimately proffer a number of considerations to the proposed Capstone's final composition (Case Studies 2008). Although case studies explore a variety of diverse topics and present a recognized, credible research design, outlining a particular universal design or method to conduct a case study is not possible.

A case study research design basically provides a base for the researcher to construct his/her study upon. When utilizing a case study, the research design constitutes "logic that ultimately links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn to the initial questions of the study" (Case Studies 2008). At the beginning of the proposal for the forthcoming Capstone project, the researcher crafted a set of research questions to address.

Research retrieved during the proposed study is expected to proffer a number of findings that will ultimately contribute to (a) answering the research determine the validity of the proposed study's hypothesis.

The hypothesis, as noted earlier in this study, purports: When police fail to respond to the need/s of sex offenders, who have served time for their crime, in a timely manner, and/or individuals in society participate in discriminatory acts such as vigilantism, present counters to re-integration, or enforce "live free from sex offender zones," then the ensuing possible discrimination against sex offenders negatively impacts society as a whole.

The researcher extracted the following themes from the proposed study's research questions to help ensure the researcher maintain relevant focus during the proposed Capstone: High risk sex offenders; Possible discrimination against high risk sex offenders; Need/s of high risk sex offenders that police may fail to respond to and/or ignore; and Ways police and societal interactions with high risk sex offenders affect society as a whole. The research question proves vital to any study.

In fact, according to Dereshiwsky (1999), the research question comprises the heart and soul of any investigation (Master Plan section ¶ 1). Dereshiwsky considers information presented in the following table (1), developed by Marshall, and Rossman (Marshall & Rossman, as cited in Dereshiwsky, Master Plan section, ¶ 3) to depict one of the best guides to help ensure the researcher maintains his/her focus on his/her primary goal to answer his/her research questions.

Table 1: Guide for Case Study Focus (Dereshiwsky 1999) Study Purpose Research Question Research Strategy Some Related Qualitative Data Collection Procedures EXPLORATORY: to investigate little- understood phenomena to identify / discover important to generate hypotheses for further research What is happening in this social program? What are the salient themes, patterns, & categories in participants' meaning structures? How are these patterns linked with one another (to provide the broader explanations for what I'm trying to understand)? Case study Field study Participant observation In-depth interviewing Elite interviewing EXPLANATORY: to explain the forces causing the phenomenon in question to identify plausible causal networks shaping this phenomenon What events, beliefs attitudes, & polices are shaping this phenomenon? How do these forces interact to result in this phenomenon? Field study Case study Ethonography Participant observation In-depth interviewing Document analysis Unobstrusive measures Survey DESCRIPTIVE: to document the phenomenon of interest What are the salient behaviors, events beliefs, attitudes, structures & processes occurring with regard to..

[researcher's] phenomenon of interest? Field study Case study Ethnography Participation observation In-depth interviewing Document analysis Unobtrusive measures Survey PREDICTIVE: to predict the outcome of the phenomenon to forecast the events & behaviors resulting from the phenomenon What will occur as a result of this phenomenon? Who will be affected (individuals, groups)? In what ways? Experiment Quasi-experiment Survey (large sample) Kinesics / proxemics Content analysis The researcher plans to recount Dereshiwsky's (1999) guidelines during the course of the proposed study, noting that determined that the explanatory plan appears to best match the design for the proposed Capstone.

In addition, the following information was considered during the proposed study's plan for construction. Study purpose: The explanatory plan aims to: (a) "explain the forces causing the phenomenon in question"; (b) "to identify plausible causal networks shaping this phenomenon" (Dereshiwsky, 1999, Master Plan section, Table). Research components incorporate consideration of: (a) What particular beliefs, attitudes, & polices help shape the study phenomenon?; (b) What are some of the ways these forces interact to produce a particular phenomenon? (Dereshiwsky, 1999, Master Plan section, Table).

Some correlated qualitative data collection procedures include: "Document analysis" (Dereshiwsky, 1999, Master Plan section, Table). As the case study methodology, a form of qualitative descriptive research, explores an individual or diminutive participant pool, it draws conclusions only about the predetermined, participant/group; only in the specific, predetermined context (Case Studies 2008, Introduction and Definition section). Case Studies'(2008) contributions compliment information Dereshiwsky (1999) proffers, as it asserts that researchers utilizing the case study methodology emphasize exploration and description.

To retrieve the research for the proposed Capstone, the researcher plans to explore a variety of sources to answer this study's research questions, however, the researcher does not.