Public perceptions regarding a sex offender's likelihood to reoffend and the efficacy of sex offender policies and practices is often inconsistent with the extant literature in academia. Thus, there is a critical need to better understand what influences those beliefs regarding sex offender policies and practices. We collected data from 284 residents from government defined rural counties and sought to examine: (1) the sources that were most influential in shaping their beliefs regarding sex offender policies and practices; (2) what characteristics the “influential sources” had; and (3) the residents' emotional response when they think about “sex offenders”. The majority of participants were supportive of registration, community notification, and use of the polygraph. Further, the results suggest that “academics and peer review articles” rarely influence beliefs. Rather, “personal experiences” and the emotions “rage” and “sadness” (but not anger or disgust) may be important in influencing rural residents' beliefs regarding sex offender treatment, castration, execution, and misconceptions regarding juveniles with a sex offense. We conclude by discussing: (1) potential factors that may affect why academics are not perceived as influential sources; and (2) possibilities for how scientists can influence rural residents' beliefs by utilizing personal experiences and anecdotal information that may spark emotion.

中文翻译：

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农村居民的情绪、信仰和影响那些对性犯罪者政策、实践和治疗效果的信仰的来源

公众对性犯罪者再次犯罪的可能性以及性犯罪者政策和做法的有效性的看法往往与学术界现有的文献不一致。因此，迫切需要更好地了解影响这些关于性犯罪者政策和做法的信念的因素。我们收集了来自政府定义的农村县的 284 名居民的数据，并试图检查：（1）对塑造他们对性犯罪者政策和做法的信念最有影响的来源；（二）“影响源”具有哪些特点；(3) 居民想到“性犯罪者”时的情绪反应。大多数参与者支持注册、社区通知和测谎仪的使用。更远，结果表明，“学术和同行评议文章”很少影响信念。相反，“个人经历”和情绪“愤怒”和“悲伤”（但不是愤怒或厌恶）可能在影响农村居民对性犯罪者待遇、阉割、处决和对性犯罪少年的误解方面具有重要意义。我们最后讨论：（1）可能影响学者为何不被视为有影响力的来源的潜在因素；(2) 科学家如何利用可能引发情感的个人经历和轶事信息来影响农村居民的信仰的可能性。关于性犯罪者治疗、阉割、处决的信念，以及对性犯罪少年的误解。我们最后讨论：（1）可能影响学者为何不被视为有影响力的来源的潜在因素；(2) 科学家如何利用可能引发情感的个人经历和轶事信息来影响农村居民的信仰的可能性。关于性犯罪者治疗、阉割、处决的信念，以及对性犯罪少年的误解。我们最后讨论：（1）可能影响学者为何不被视为有影响力的来源的潜在因素；(2) 科学家如何利用可能引发情感的个人经历和轶事信息来影响农村居民的信仰的可能性。