To register or not to register? The effectiveness of Megan's Law in Pennsylvania.

摘要

This study assessed the effectiveness of Megan's Law in Pennsylvania. Both the original version of Megan's Law and the revised version were examined using an ITS design. Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data was used in both annual and monthly form. The annual data set included the years 1974--2009. The monthly data set included 2001--2010. An interrupted time-series design (ITS) and ARIMA modeling and OLS regression as a data analysis technique were used to determine the effectiveness of Megan's Law in Pennsylvania. The outcome variables included: urban rape; suburban/rural rape; rape of an individual under the age of 18; rape of an individual over the age of 18; murder of an individual 14 and under; urban sex offenses; and suburban/rural sex offenses. Nonequivalent dependent variables included: urban murder; suburban/rural murder; murder of an individual 15 and over; urban aggravated assau suburban/rural aggravated assau urban robbery; and suburban/rural robbery.