Abstract
We investigated whether and how a juvenile's history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile's history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants considered a severe sexual offense (forced rape; Study 3 and Study 4) and a case involving less severe sexual offenses (i.e., statutory rape), when a juvenile's history of sexual abuse backfired and was used as an aggravating factor, increasing support for registering the offender (Study 3 and Study 5). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 35-49 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Psychology, Public Policy, and Law |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Attributions
- Child sexual abuse
- Juvenile sex offending
- Legal decision making
- Public policy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
- Law