societal reaction to sex offenders: a review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability

Quinn, James; Forsyth, Craig J.; Mullen-Quinn, Carla

doi:10.1080/01639620490431147

Cited by 187 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Therefore, media coverage about sexual offenders is likely to play a major role in shaping the public's attitude towards sexual offenders (Craun & Theriot, 2009;Galeste, Fradella, & Vogel, 2012;Harper & Hogue, 2015a;Malinen, Willis, & Johnston, 2013;McCartan, 2010;Quinn, Forsyth, & Mullen-Quinn, 2004;Thakker, 2012). This is because such information is sensationalized, selective, and biased, creating a skewed representation of whom or what a sexual offender is (Greer, 2012;Harper & Hogue, 2014).…”

Section: Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness In Judgmenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime

Harper

Bartels

2016

Sex Abuse

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Implicit theories structure the way people understand and respond to various human actions.Typically, people believe attributes are either fixed (entitists) or malleable (incrementalists).The present study aimed to examine: (a) whether attitudes towards sexual offenders differ depending upon one's implicit theory about human nature and sexual offenders, and (b) whether implicit theories are associated with judgments made about different types of child abuser. A sample of 252 community participants was recruited. Their attitudes, implicit theories, and political orientation were assessed via self-report. One of three vignettes describing an incidence of child sexual abuse was then presented. The cases were identical except the perpetrator was either an adult male, an adult female, or a male juvenile. Participants then made judgments about the offender's deserved sentence and moral character. Entitists (across both domains) held more negative attitudes than incrementalists, although the magnitude of the difference was greatest when examining implicit theories about sexual offenders. Compared to those with an incremental theory of sexual offenders, entity theorists judged sexual offending to be more: (a) indicative of the perpetrator's moral character, and (b) deserving of punishment. However, scores were greater towards the adult male relative to the adult female and juvenile. The findings suggest that implicit theories about sexual offenders are domain-specific. They also indicate that judgments made by those with an entity theory (about sexual offenders) are affected by whether a case is representative of a stereotypical sexual offender. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with limitations and future research.Keywords: implicit theories; representativeness heuristic; sexual offenders; public attitudes; schema 3 Implicit theories and offender representativeness in judgments about sexual crimeMuch research has demonstrated that people generally hold more negative attitudes towards sexual offenders than perpetrators of other crime types (e.g., Rogers & Ferguson, 2011;Willis, Levenson, & Ward, 2010). Given the nature and damaging consequences of sexual crime, it is not surprising that people within society hold such attitudes. Sexual offenders and the type of offenses they commit elicit negative affective reactions, such as fear, disgust, and moral outrage (Kernsmith, Craun, & Foster, 2009;Vess, 2009;Willis et al., 2010), which can provide the basis for one's negative attitude towards sexual offenders; a phenomenon known as 'affect-as-information' (Clore, Gasper, & Garvin, 2001).People have a striking ability to effortlessly form attitudes on the basis of "media exposure, and other forms of socially-supplied information" (Crano, Cooper, & Forgas, 2010, p.3). Therefore, media coverage about sexual offenders is likely to play a major role in shaping the public's attitude towards sexual offenders (Craun & Theriot, 2009;Galeste, Fradella, & Vogel, 2012;Harper & Hogue, 2015a;Malinen, Willis, & ...

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Section: Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness In Judgmenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime

Harper

Bartels

2016

Sex Abuse

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“…However, early descriptive studies of sex offenders' criminal records were not supported by an organizing conceptual framework which led to the emergence of controversies among researchers about the nature and extent of sex offenders' criminal behavior (e.g., Abel & Rouleau, 1990;Langevin et al, 2004;Marshall, Barbaree, & Eccles, 1991;Webster, Gartner, & Doob, 2006). These controversies certainly did not help to challenge common myths, stereotypes, and false beliefs about sex offenders' criminal behavior which have, in some instances, served as the foundation to develop new criminal justice policies to tackle the problem of sexual violence and abuse (e.g., La Fond, 2005;Quinn, Forsyth, & Mullen-Quinn, 2004). The current review re-introduces the criminal career approach and, in doing so, aims to provide a common organizing framework for policymakers as well as researchers from various disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, sociology, social work, criminal justice, and criminology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond sexual recidivism: A review of the sexual criminal career parameters of adult sex offenders

Lussier

Cale

2013

Aggression and Violent Behavior

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The current study claims that measures of sexual recidivism provide a distorted view of the criminal activity of adult sex offenders. To address this important limitation, the criminal career perspective is presented and key concepts are defined and described. The study also provides an up-to-date review of the scientific literature on various criminal career parameters of the sexual criminal activity of adult sex offenders. Hence, current empirical knowledge on the prevalence, age of onset, frequency, continuity, versatility, and desistance from sex offending is presented. The findings highlight the complexities of the sexual criminal career of adult sex offenders, and most importantly, its dynamic aspect, both of which are not captured by traditional measures of sexual recidivism. The review also underscores the importance of recognizing that sexual offending develops according to a series of stages, that, if not recognized, may lead to the underestimation of risk for some and over-estimation of risk for others. The review provides a framework to stimulate new areas of research as well as policy-development that is not limited to the identification of the "high-risk" convicted sex offenders.

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“…In sum, although citizens demand longer sentences and notification regardless of what the data suggest (Berliner, 1996b), their lack of understanding of who sex offenders are, how they operate, and true recidivism rates fail to protect our children and rehabilitate offenders (Quinn et al, 2004). The public continues to accept and vote for policy decisions with little concern for their effectiveness.…”

Section: Other Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Community notification debates in scholarly journals commenced with scholars expressing their views based on speculation and fairness of the law (Edwards & Hensley, 2001;Berliner, 1996aBerliner, , 1996bFreeman-Longo, 1996, 2000Lieb, 1996;Prentky, 1996;Presser and Gunnison, 1999;Avrahamian, 1998;Quinn et al, 2004). Opponents of the law cited possible negative, unintended consequences such as vigilantism, mistaken identities, and obstacles to offender reintegration.…”

Section: Previous Research Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Notification Laws

Speck¹

2007

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societal reaction to sex offenders: a review of the origins and results of the myths surrounding their crimes and treatment amenability

Cited by 187 publications

References 48 publications

Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime

Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime

Beyond sexual recidivism: A review of the sexual criminal career parameters of adult sex offenders

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