Sex Offender Registration and Recidivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sex Offender Registration and Recidivism - Essay Example   The concept of sex offender registration and notification has been practiced in the American community since the end of 1900s. Research professionals have noted that scarcity of valuable information about the history of sex offender registration in the United States affects their studies. As Richard Gordon Wrights observes, â€Å"despite this lack of information, States began re-embracing the notion of sex offender registration in the 1890s† (Wright, 2009, p. 212).   In 1994 certain states including Florida demanded convicted sex offenders to document their addresses with regional law enforcement agencies. After this, the Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act. The law is considered as the most significant step in the history of sex offender registration in the United States. ... As per the instructions of The Jacob Wetterling Act, all states introduced various policies to develop and maintain sex offenders register. In this respect, Elizabeth J. Letourneau et al point out that â€Å"the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996 required the development of a nationwide registry to prevent offenders from escaping registration requirements by moving from state to state† (Letourneau, Levenson, Bandyopadhyay, Sinha & Armstrong, 2010). From its initial stages all these registration laws are referred to as â€Å"Megan’s Laws† in the United States in mark of respect to a child victim, Megan Kankla: â€Å"these laws have typically been refereed to as â€Å"Megan’s Laws† in the United States   in tribute   to a child victim, Megan Kankla who was kidnapped, raped and murdered† (Hanser, 2009, p. 169). During the initial stages the making and maintaining of sex offender registrations were mainly conc entrated to prevent sexual offenses in the society and then it deviated to other areas of the judiciary. It is highly remarkable that there is a gradual growth in the process of registering and notifying the information of convicted sex offenders in the United States in recent years. The government can ensure transparency and public involvement in legal procedure. Current status of sex offender register reveals its importance in society. The report submitted to the California Legislature in 2002 underlines the growing status of sex offender registration. The report states that â€Å"currently, about half of our state’s law enforcement agencies notify residents, schools, or businesses of nearby high risk or serious sex offenders or make the information available to the  public†.

Physician Assistant Profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physician Assistant Profession - Essay Example Specialties such as cardiovascular, neonatology, and emergency medicine may fall outside the scope of the core training program. Typically, responsibility for training a PA to work in these areas falls on Masters levels programs or the physician that was practicing with the PA. While the system has relied on the talent and dedication of the members of the profession to assure an adequate level of training, there has been no formal certification process for working in these areas. The rapidly changing and evolving profession has reached a point where certification makes good sense. It is good for the physicians, the career PAs, and most importantly it is a benefit to the public and the health care patients that seek care from a PA in a specialty environment. PAs are trained and work under the close supervision of a physician and in this arrangement the physician is dependent upon a qualified assistant. Currently, the National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistants (NCCPA) is the governing board that is responsible for the quality certification of PAs. In a speech of May 2006 Randy D. Danielsen, the Chairman of the NCCPA said, "Changes in the larger health care delivery system may be adversely affecting the teaching and mentoring that should be taking place between PAs and their supervising physicians...". The NCCPA Chairman called for specialty certification at that time. When training suffers the working arrangement between the physician and the PA is negatively affected. With specialty standards and a certification process, the physician could be more confident that the PA will have the background necessary to work in tomorrow's health care system. The PA may have the most to gain from a specialty certification process. A certificate of compliance can be readily recognized as an assurance that the PA is qualified to work in a given specialty. Indeed, many larger organizations have indicated the need for certification other that the NCCPA certification to demonstrate the PAs competence in a specialty or subspecialty. The current certification process may be limiting the career advancement of qualified PAs simply because of a lack of a certification process. According to the American Academy of Physicians Assistants (AAPA) this could lead to more opportunities for employment, greater chance of advancement, higher pay, and a more secure position within the specialty ("Flexibility as a Hallmark"). Specialty certification will enhance the career path of the PA within the framework of modern health care. Critics will point out that the certification requirements may limit the flexibility of PAs in the delivery of care. The AAPA has cited as an example that, "...a PA working in adult cardiology might not be able to moonlight in urgent care..." ("Flexibility as a Hallmark"). The Academy is further concerned that the added cost of formal specialty and subspecialty training and certification may be impractical as well as being time consuming and possibly unavailable. These are valid concerns and it is incumbent upon the NCCPA to address these important issues when structuring a specialty certification program. The ultimate goal of health care is to benefit the patient. Indeed, PAs have been instrumental in bringing quality treatment to the public at an affordable cost. In a study by Hooker, Potts, and Ray it