Tobias Jung Phd Thesis
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NETWORKS, EVIDENCE AND LESSON-DRAWING IN THE PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS : THE CASE OF SARAH PAYNE AND THE BRITISH DEBATE ABOUT SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION Tobias Jung A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2005 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14006 This item is protected by original copyright Networks, Evidence and Lesson-Drawing in the Public Policy Process: The case of Sarah Payne and the British debate about sex offender community notification z Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD Tobias Jung 4 October 2005 ProQuest Number: 10171051 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10171051 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Declarations I, Tobias Jung, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 82,650 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. Signature of Candidate I was admitted as a research student in September 2000 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in September 2001; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out at the University of St Andrews between 2001 and 2005. Date Signature of Candidate I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date . Sf / ?? A Signature of Supervisor .... In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker. Signature of Candidate - i - Abstract This thesis examines the public policy process. It explores the role of and relation between three concepts considered important in defining and shaping the making of policies: policy networks, evidence-use and policy transfer. It does this through examining a high profile and controversial area of public policy: the debate about sex offender community notification that resulted from the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted sex offender in the summer of 2000. A case study methodology is employed, which includes interviews with key players and extensive documentary analysis. The study finds that none of the main concepts for understanding policy networks - iron triangles, issue networks, policy communities and advocacy coalitions - provide sufficient characterisation of the policy network involved in the 2000 community notification debate. Areas that these concepts do not fully address include the degree of choice participants have in getting involved in a policy network, the causes and processes of alliance building between network participants and the importance, characteristics and impact of organisational as well as personal links. Practitioner knowledge emerges as a major influence in policy making with different forms of evidence entering the policy debate in a strategic way - that is to support an argument. Factors that explain the influence of research evidence are its comprehensiveness, its perceived value for future policy debates on the same topic and the assumed integrity of the evidence-provider. The existing concept of lesson-drawing is found to focus too much on cases in which policy transfer has taken place. It is necessary to develop the concept further to explain situations in which lessons are drawn but where the idea of transferring a policy is dismissed. Finally, lesson-drawing is not limited to the substance of policies and practices but also includes lessons about tactics and processes. - ii - To my parents - iii - List of Tables Number Title Page 1.1 A Selection of ‘Folk-Knowledge’ in Relation to Criminal 7 Justice 2.1 ‘A Babylonian Variety’: Different Terms for Policy 14 Networks 2.2 Central Assumptions of the Policy Community Model 20 2.3 Policy Community and Policy Network: the Rhodes Model 21 I 2.4 Policy Community and Policy Network: the Rhodes Model 22 II 2.5 Legitimate Reasons to Question the Practicality or 29 Desirability of an Evidence-Based Approach 2.6 Differences in the Information Needs, Work Culture and 32 Writing Preferences of the two Communities of Researcher and Policymaker 2.7 Problems on the Researcher’s and Policymaker’s Side 33 affecting the Uptake of Research _ 2.8 Different Forms of Policy Convergence 44 2.9 Alternative Ways of Drawing a Lesson 47 - viii - Contents Page Declarations i Abstract ii Dedication iii List of Tables viii List of Diagrams xii Abbreviations xiv Acknowledgements xv Chapters Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Why Policy Networks, Evidence-Use and Policy 1 Transfer? The Choice of Sex Offender Community Notification as 5 the Research Area Existing Literature on the Sarah Payne Case 10 Structure of the Thesis 11 Summary 12 Chapter 2 Understanding the Policy Process: the existing 13 literature on networks, evidence and policy transfer Policy Networks 13 Evidence-Based Policy Making 27 Policy Transfer 40 Summary 51 iv - Chapter 3 Research Questions and Methodology 53 The Research Questions 56 • The Case Study Approach 59 Implementation of the Case Study Approach 64 Presentation Protocol 74 Summary 76 Chapter 4 The Case of Sarah Payne and the News of the 78 World's Campaign for Sarah’s Law Policy Context 78 The Case of Sarah Payne 82 The Beginning of the ‘Name-and-Shame Campaign’ 84 The Meeting on 2 August 2000 93 The News of the World's ‘Sarah's Law Campaign’ 102 Summary 117 Chapter 5 The Policy Network 118 The Network’s Participants 118 Links between the Players in the Network 140 The End of the Policy Network 149 Summary 150 Chapter 6 Evidence, Lesson-Drawing and Policy Outcomes 151 The News of the World's Evidence 151 Exploring the Evidence-Base on Megan's Law 156 Awareness about International Evidence in Britain prior 176 to the Sarah's Law Campaign The NSPCC’s Research 178 - v - The Dossier of Evidence 184 Policy Outcomes 187 Summary 192 Chapter 7 Discussion: Learning from the Case Study 193 Policy Networks 193 Evidence 210 Lesson-Drawing 220 The Nexus between Policy Networks, Evidence and 226 Lesson-Drawing Summary 233 Chapter 8 Conclusions 235 Thesis Overview 235 Research Contributions 237 Research Limitations 241 Methodological Reflections 242 Potential Areas for Further Research 243 Appendix 1 The Broader Policy Context of the Sarah Payne 245 Case: practice and legislative developments in the area of sex offender management and victim protection Developments in Practice 245 Legislative Developments 247 The Case of‘Regina -v- Chief Constable of North 260 Wales Police and Others Ex Parte Thorpe and Another’ The Cases of Robert Oliver, Steve Barrell, Lesley Baily 262 and Sidney Cooke Appendix 2 The Pieces of Legislation Making Up Megan’s Law 265 - vi - Appendix 3 Sarah’s Law - The News of the World's Draft Bill 269 Appendix 4 Sex Offender Registration and Community 274 Notification: Developments in Canada, Australia and New Zealand Canada 274 Australia 280 New Zealand 284 Appendix 5 Sex Offences and Offenders: A Background 287 The Extent of Sexual Offences 287 Characteristics of Sex Offenders 288 Treating Sex Offenders 292 Appendix 6 List of Documental References 299 Bibl iography 3 02 - vii - 2.10 Desirability and Practicality of Transferring Policies 49 3.1 Assumptions of the Two Main Paradigms 54 3.2 Outline of General Research Questions 57 3.3 Case-Specific Research Questions 58 3.4 Five Rationales for Conducting a Single-Case Study 63 3.5 Classification of Documents 67 3.6 Kinds of Documents Accessed 70 4.1 Some of the Inaccuracies in the Information Published on 90 23 July 2000 by the News of the World as identified by ACOP 4.2 The Initial Outline of the News of the World's Proposed 99 Sarah's Law 4.3 The Manifesto of the Sarah's Law Campaign 100 5.1 Recent Approaches to Raising the Profile of Sex Offender 121 Issues 5.2 “Sarah's Law” - Proposed Legislative Measures 125 - ix - 6.1 Unintended Consequences of Registration and Notification 159 6.2 Problems with Community Notification 160 6.3 Type of Crimes Committed by Registry-Eligible 166 Participants 6.4 Potential of the Massachusetts Registry Law in Preventing 167 Predatory-Stranger Crimes by Registry-Eligible Offenders 6.5 Consequences of Notification, as Reported by Sex 174 Offenders 6.6 Dissemination of the NSPCC’s report Megan's Law: Does 181 it protect children? 6.7 Key Findings of Megan’s Law: Does it protect children? 183 6.8 Changes introduced by the Criminal