Training Description
Young persons who have perpetrated sexual abuse are at the risk of stigmatization following registration as a “sexual offender”. In this training, attendees will learn what information to consider when determining if a young person should be required to be subject to registration and community notification. The negative effects of taking such measures is also described.
Trainer Biographies
Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD is Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins University. Past President of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), her research interests intersect around the prevention of child sexual abuse victimization and perpetration. More specifically, she has conducted research on the evaluation of sex offender public policy effects, development and evaluation of assessment instruments and clinical interventions addressing youth and adult sex offending behaviors, and development and evaluation of interventions addressing youth sexual risk behaviors.
Andrew Harris, PhD is Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. An expert in public policy, he teaches in the areas of institutional and community corrections, substance abuse, sexual offending, crime and mental illness, and social policy. His current research agenda focuses on policy responses to sexual offending, and policies concerning justice-involved persons with serious mental illness. He is also Principal Investigator for a major national study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, designed to inform policies and practices concerning teen “sexting” and its related issues.
Learning Objectives
This training is designed to help you:
- Evaluate contemporary practices in the required registration of young persons who have perpetrated sexual abuse
- Identify the effects that registration on child and adolescent perpetrators
- Describe the possible stigmas for child and adolescent perpetrators associated with the “sex offender” label