Convicted sex offender residential movements

The social, economic, and cultural impacts of sex offender legislation are topics of considerable interest in recent years. Despite the number of studies evaluating the collateral consequences of these laws, the implications of spatial restrictions on housing availability and residential mobility for convicted sex offenders remain an empirical question. Because of the social implications, but also risks associated with recidivism, a better understanding of the spatio-temporal movements of sex offenders is critical for developing effective management policies and strategies aimed at promoting public safety. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze sex offender residential movement patterns over a 2.5 year period in Hamilton County, Ohio. Using geographic information systems and a developed exploratory system, SOSTAT, this study uncovers significant trends and behavioral patterns that shed light on offender reintegration, their residential mobility and the implications of residency restrictions on both offenders and community.