Perceived Dangerousness Mediates Punitive Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders: Results From a Vignette Experiment

The current study used an experimental vignette (n = 1,093) to examine the effects of perpetrator sex and age, and victim sex and age, on simulated juror sentencing recommendations for individuals convicted of sexual offenses (ICSO). Path analyses were used to see if differences in punitive attitude...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:  
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Kruis, Nathan E. (Autor)
Otros Autores: Ménard, Kim S. ; Choi, Jaeyong ; Rowland, Nicholas J. ; Frye, Tyler ; Kosaka, Rachel ; Williams, Alicia 1970-
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2025
En: Crime & delinquency
Año: 2025, Volumen: 71, Número: 5, Páginas: 1632-1662
Acceso en línea: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Journals Online & Print:
Gargar...
Verificar disponibilidad: HBZ Gateway
Palabras clave:
experimental vignette design
underage victims
SEX offenders
Sentencing
Gender Bias
Descripción
Sumario:The current study used an experimental vignette (n = 1,093) to examine the effects of perpetrator sex and age, and victim sex and age, on simulated juror sentencing recommendations for individuals convicted of sexual offenses (ICSO). Path analyses were used to see if differences in punitive attitudes could be explained by perceptions of dangerousness participants attached to experimentally manipulated variables, as hypothesized by attribution theorists. Results show that participants consistently recommended longer sentences, higher fines, and indicated greater support for post-release sanctions for male offenders, older perpetrators, and for offenders who victimized younger adolescents. Path analysis demonstrated that perceptions of dangerousness partially mediated the relationship between experimentally manipulated predictor variables and recommended sentence length, providing partial support for attribution theory.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/00111287231170106