RT Article T1 ‘Once a sex offender always a sex offender’?: essentialism and attitudes towards criminal justice policy JF Psychology, crime & law VO 25 IS 5 SP 421 OP 439 A1 De Vel-Palumbo, Melissa A1 Brewer, Marilynn B. 1942- A1 Howarth, Laura LA English YR 2019 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/173654912X AB The present research explores the proposition that psychological essentialism determines how we understand the nature of some types of crime and associated attitudes regarding how perpetrators should be treated. Specifically, we argue that people believe certain crimes are highly essentialized, and they treat offenders in those categories more punitively. Study 1 assessed the applicability of essentialism to crime, demonstrating that different types of crime are indeed more essentialized than others. Two additional studies demonstrated that essentialism beliefs play a unique role in individuals’ endorsement of policies regarding treatment of offenders who commit crimes of a sexual nature. We consider the implications of our findings for offender rehabilitation and reintegration. K1 Crime K1 Attitudes K1 Implicit theories K1 Public Opinion K1 Sex Offenses DO 10.1080/1068316X.2018.1529234