Dr. Kristan Russell, Ph.D to Speak on Unintended Consequences
Critics of our country’s sexual offense policies often cite a multitude of negative effects experienced by people who are on the registry ranging from stigma and isolation to discrimination in securing employment and housing. But what about their families?
At NARSOL’s 2022 Annual Conference, which will be held June 16-19, 2022, in Raleigh, NC, researcher Kristan N. Russell will share her recent research findings about the impact of registration on the spouses, partners, and children of people on the registry. Her presentation will address survey respondents’ perceptions of how they are indirectly and directly impacted by sex offense policies, describe respondents’ beliefs regarding how policymakers should move forward, and will highlight the importance of amplifying their voices so they can be heard in future research and policy efforts.
Dr. Russell is an Assistant Professor of Justice Studies in the College of Juvenile Justice and a Research Scientist in the Texas Juvenile Crime Prevention Center at Prairie View A&M University. She first became interested in researching sexual offending and related policy while working on her master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from Roger Williams University where she collaborated with faculty members who specialized in sex offense treatment, assessment, and research. She was also conducting research within the juvenile detention system at that time. These experiences encouraged her to shift her focus from mental health counseling to wanting to conduct research to help inform and improve sex offense policies.
In 2020, she earned her PhD in Interdisciplinary Social Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has published 12 articles on topics such as parent-child communication about sex and consent, teacher sexual misconduct, juvenile sexual offending, and the impact of sexual offense policies on partners of those who are registered. Her research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Feminist Criminology, and Qualitative Criminology. She has presented her work at many regional, national, and international professional conferences and has written several Op-eds featured in publications such as the New York Law Journal.
Dr. Russell’s plenary presentation is scheduled for Friday, June 17th. She will also be presenting a workshop on Saturday entitled, “What’s Age Got to Do with It? Adolescent Development and Sex Offending.”
It’s not too late to sign up for the conference! Be sure to book your hotel room while they are still available using the link above or the link at http://conference.narsol.org.
They politicians that push this bull…. don’t care about the consequences. It’s money.. it makes for good reelection. It’s about power and control. They don’t give a rats about anything else. 99% of the public has no idea what the registry actually is. They have no thought on the trivial bs that can cause you to end up on the registry. It’s like all the tiktok videos about pedophiles that how they see everyone on the registry. Everyone on the registry might of well had raped a 2 week old. That how the world see us and treats us.
Dr Russell is just another example of the expertise of those trying to make rational and factual change to the absolute mess that politics has manipulated the ignorant public for votes. As the recent baseless arguments against the ALI’s fact-based recommended changes to the registry, by the state attorney general’s an DOJ reflect, the sex offense laws and registry are NOT rational. I appreciate NARSOL’s efforts in finding experience like Dr. Russell. If Federal supervision did not prevent me from attending nor using a computer to stream the conference, I would be there.
There is a new law started by Mayor Eric Adams in new york. It is called the “Gun Recidivist Investigation Program” It is the same thing as the sex offender registration but a registration for gun offenders who attempt to murder people and children. It has been met with overwhelming resistance with the opposing critics saying how this list will put the offender and their family at risk. You should watch this closely because if putting a person on a list in this matter is struck down then the sex registry should be struck down as well. Just an FYI. Thanks for your help.
Jim,
No doubt the “electronic registration regime” concept is being advanced on many fronts. And all are based on the notion that a database can protect you by preventing recidivism. These claims are bolstered by those who claim 95% efficacy rate as applied to sex offender recidivism. Many states are already engaging in the use of databases in non sex offense criminal regimes. Wisconsin lists its tax delinquent citizens online. We also have a database of those convicted of drunk driving offenses. However neither of those groups are indentured to the database upkeep. One thing is for sure, the unintended consequences the young woman describes are indeed about liberty.