Casey Ryan, an instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and Public Administration, presented at the American Society of Criminology’s annual meeting held Nov. 13 through 16 in San Francisco. The theme of the 2019 meeting was “Criminology in the New Era: Confronting Injustice and Inequalities.”
Ryan’s presentation, entitled “Criminalizing Youth Sexting Behavior: Punishing Status Offenses as Delinquent Acts,” was based on her research on how institutions shape our understanding of and reaction to teens who engage in consensual sexting behavior. The research focuses on how we criminalize youth who engage in consensual sexting behavior, and some states punish through adult child pornography laws. Ryan argues that sexting is actually a status offense, but due to societal disapproval surrounding youth and any sexual behavior, it becomes a criminal offense through our construction of what is deviant.
Published: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 13:00:44 +0000 by a.geisendorfer