ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a comparative perspective on the development of controls on sexual offenders released into the community in the USA (state and federal levels) and UK (England and Wales). It provides both a socio-historical account of policy developments since the 1940s in the USA and the mid-1990s in the UK, and a critical analysis of the political and cultural contexts within which such developments have taken root. Key comparative questions addressed include deployment of symbol and substance in policy; utilisation of criminal and civil regulation; role of and for criminal justice agencies; modes of public involvement; and consideration of analytic frameworks. The chapter concludes with an assessment of likely future trends in the management of released sexual offenders on both sides of the Atlantic.
