A Prototype-Willingness Model of Sexual Crime Discourse in England and Wales

Abstract

Dual-process models of decision making assume that we process information using two distinct 'systems': a deliberate and analytical system, and an intuitive system. This article uses 148 UK press articles about sexual crime to apply one such model -the 'prototype-willingness' model -to the study of social discourses about sexual crime in England and Wales. A small number of cases were significantly over-represented within the article sample (for example, the recent Jimmy Savile scandal). This finding is examined within the context of contemporary debates about sexual crime, and a model of social and political discourse is advanced. Implications for legislation and future research are discussed.

Press coverage as a heuristic guide for social decision-making about sexual offenders

“…When analysed in conjunction with recent UK legislative changes (e.g. Harper & Hogue, 2014), these findings are broadly supportive of an availability cascade model of sexual crime discourse (Kuran & Sunstein, 1999).…”

“…For example, King and Roberts (2015) argued that the 'sex offender' label is associated in many peoples' minds with the media-proliferated image (i.e. the available example) of a predatory paedophile (see Harper & Hogue, 2014). As such, examining the role of pressinduced heuristics in relation to social decision-making about sexual crime appears to be a critical area of inquiry.…”

Applying moral foundations theory to understanding public views of sexual offending

“…For instance, Gray and Keeney (2015) found that participants overwhelmingly provided sexual examples when asked to describe scenarios that depict impurity. Examples of the most commonly provided scenarios included child molestation and rape -two of the most commonly reported categories of sexual crime within the mainstream media (Harper & Hogue, 2014).…”

The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

“…Further, the extent to which "representative" cases dominate media coverage of sexual crime has the potential to feed into views about what is (and, by extension, what is not) a sexual offence, with public preferences and social support for particular legislative policies being driven by these ideas (eg Harper & Hogue, 2014). At present, the scale of media coverage of such "representative" cases means that the prevailing societal stereotype of the "predatory male pedophile" suggested by King and Roberts (2015, p. 2) dominates the social and legislative discourses about the sentencing and post-conviction management of sexual offenders.…”