Blame Attribution in Court: Conceptualization and Measurement of Perpetrator Blame

Cramer, Robert J.; Gorter, Erin L.; Rodriguez, Monique Dawn Cornish; Clark, John W.; Rice, Amanda Kay; Nobles, Matt R.

doi:10.1080/15564886.2012.745458

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Consistent with philosophical literature concerning the hate crime laws debate (e.g., Gerstenfeld, ) morality (i.e., values‐laden arguments outside of law or legal precedent) statements were defined as phrases that reflect a values‐related or philosophical perspective that convey “wrongness” in some other way than using legal terms (e.g., religious values, fairness, or social justice; e.g., “these laws show society's support of the weak”). Consistent with literature concerning victim blaming and perceptions of victims in hate crimes (e.g., Cramer et al., ), victim‐related beliefs were phrases that refer to beliefs about the victims of hate crimes (e.g., “gay people should/should not be protected” [leveling the playing field] or “the victim was partially responsible for what happened” [victim blaming]). Consistent with literature demonstrating negative perceptions of hate crime offenders (e.g., Plumm, Terrance, Henderson, & Ellingson, ), offender‐related beliefs were phrases that refer to beliefs about the offenders of hate crimes (e.g., “all deserve to be punished” or “these perpetrators are bigots”).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Political Identity, Type of Victim, and Hate Crime‐Related Beliefs as Predictors of Views Concerning Hate Crime Penalty Enhancement Laws

Cramer

Laxton

Chandler

et al. 2017

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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Little empirical work exists examining predictors of support or opposition of hate crime penalty enhancement laws despite such laws remaining a socially and politically contentious issue. Grounded in legal and philosophical arguments concerning hate crime laws, we tested political identity, victim minority status, and hate crime‐related beliefs as predictors of perceptions concerning penalty enhancement laws for bias‐motivated crime. Jury‐eligible Texas community members (n = 382) participating in a community survey of social and legal attitudes took part in the present study. Participants read a vignette of a hate‐motivated homicide that varied victim type (African American, gay, transgender) and answered questions regarding demographics, political identity, and hate crime penalty enhancement support. Qualitatively coded hate crime‐related beliefs yielded the following categories: legal arguments, moral statements, victim‐related beliefs, offender‐related beliefs, and an “other” category. Political identity, legal arguments, victim‐related and offender‐related beliefs all predicted views of penalty enhancement laws in logistic regression analyses. Exploratory mediation tests identified two pathways: (1) political conservatism–legal arguments–penalty enhancement opposition, and (2) political liberalism–offender beliefs–penalty enhancement support. Implications concerning social justice, public policy, trial consultation practice, and future research are discussed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Political Identity, Type of Victim, and Hate Crime‐Related Beliefs as Predictors of Views Concerning Hate Crime Penalty Enhancement Laws

Cramer

Laxton

Chandler

et al. 2017

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A series of studies by Cramer and colleagues (Cramer et al, 2010;Cramer, Clark, Kehn, Burks, & Wechsler, 2014;Cramer, Gorter, et al, 2013;Cramer, Kehn, et al, 2013;Cramer, Nobles, Amacker, & Dovoedo, 2013) investigates two questions: (a) the role of blame attribution in punishment of offenders and (b) the nature or structure of blame in hate-crime trials. With regard to the punishment of offenders, perceptions of victim blame are generally (but not always) negatively, and perceptions of offender blame positively, linked with enhanced punishment (Cramer et al, 2010;Cramer et al, 2014).…”

Section: Blame Attribution Theory and Application To Perceptions Of Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These effects tend to be exacerbated by disagreement with hate-crime legislation and, in the case of offender blame, when the victim is gay (Cramer et al, 2014). The nature of blame attribution in antigay hate crimes tends to be unidimensional for perceptions of offenders (Cramer, Gorter, et al, 2013), but multi-dimensional in the perceptions of victims . In sum, how perceivers blame actors in a hate crime may be key to understanding the structure of hate-crime-related beliefs, as well as associated decisions informed by these beliefs.…”

Section: Blame Attribution Theory and Application To Perceptions Of Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Attitudes About Hate: Development of the Hate Crime Beliefs Scale

Cabeldue

Cramer

Kehn

et al. 2016

J Interpers Violence

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Employing the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009 and other such legislation as a backdrop, the present study evaluated the nature of beliefs about hate-crime legislation, offenders, and victims. In addition, it investigated construct validity (i.e., political beliefs and prejudice) and predictive validity (i.e., blame attribution and sentencing recommendations). A total of 403 U.S. adults completed measures of prejudice and an initial pool of 50 items forming the proposed Hate Crime Beliefs Scale (HCBS). Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four hate-crime vignettes, which varied in regard to type of prejudice (racial-, sexual orientation-, transgender-, and religion-based prejudices) and then responded to blame and sentencing questions. Factor analyses of the HCBS resulted in four sub-scales: Negative Views (i.e., higher scores reflect negative views of legislation and minority group protection), Offender Punishment (i.e., higher scores suggest endorsement of greater punishment), Deterrence (i.e., greater scores denote support for hate-crime legislation as a deterrent of more violence), and Victim Harm (i.e., higher scores reflect pro-victim attitudes). Greater pro-legislation and pro-victim beliefs were related to liberal political beliefs and less prejudicial attitudes, with some exceptions. Controlling for a number of demographic, situational, and attitudinal covariates, the Negative Views sub-scale displayed predictive utility, such that more negative views of legislation/minority group protection were associated with elevated victim blame, as well as lower perpetrator blame and sentencing recommendations. Results are discussed in the context of hate-crime research and policy, with additional implications considered for trial strategy, modern prejudice, and blame attribution theory.

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“…Overall, support for hate crime legislation is associated with more punitive decisions toward offenders (Cramer et al, 2013b ). For example, perceived blame toward a hate crime perpetrator (Cramer et al, 2013a ) and perceived malice of a victim in a hate crime event (Cramer et al, 2013c ) impact punishment decisions. Elaborating on these patterns, Cramer and colleagues (Cramer et al 2017 ) assessed narrative explanations of support for hate crime penalty enhancement laws, finding negative views toward offenders yielded favorable views about the laws, whereas persons articulating basic legal explanations (e.g., “all crimes should be treated equally”) were less likely to support these laws.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, protection of sexual minorities as part of hate crime laws detracts from public support for their implementation (Johnson & Byers, 2003). Moreover, a series of studies (e.g., Cramer et al, 2013aCramer et al, , 2013bCramer et al, , 2013cCramer et al, , 2017 show the importance of attitudes about hate crimes for legal perceptions and decision making. Overall, support for hate crime legislation is associated with more punitive decisions toward offenders (Cramer et al, 2013b).…”

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confidence: 99%

Assessing attitudes about hate: Further validation of the hate crime beliefs scale

et al. 2022

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The Hate Crime Beliefs Scale (HCBS) is an assessment of attitudes about hate crime laws, offenders, and victims. The original HCBS includes four subscales (negative beliefs, offender punishment, deterrence, and victim harm), while a shortened and modified version from the United Kingdom (UK; HCBS-UK) consists of three subscales (denial, sentencing, and compassion). We conducted a psychometric test of the HCBS in order to identify a best fitting structure with possible item reduction. A total of 463 participants completed the original HCBS, measures of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and demographic questions. Factor analyses revealed good fit of the data for a Hate Crime Beliefs Scale-Short Form (HCBS-SF), largely modeled after the HCBS-UK. The three subscales were: denial (i.e., downplaying hate crime severity and low support for hate crime laws), sentencing (i.e., support for more punitive offender punishment), and compassion (i.e., understanding and concern for victims). All subscales possessed acceptable internal consistency. The denial subscale was positively associated with RWA subscale and SDO scores. The sentencing and compassion subscales were significantly negatively correlated with SDO and RWA subscale scores. Republicans held the least supportive views of hate crime laws, concern for victims, and punishment of offenders. Data underscore the importance of evaluating hate crime beliefs in public opinion and other contexts. The HCBS-SF better captures hate crime related attitudes than the previously developed longer version of the HCBS.

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Blame Attribution in Court: Conceptualization and Measurement of Perpetrator Blame

Cited by 5 publications

References 40 publications

Political Identity, Type of Victim, and Hate Crime‐Related Beliefs as Predictors of Views Concerning Hate Crime Penalty Enhancement Laws

Political Identity, Type of Victim, and Hate Crime‐Related Beliefs as Predictors of Views Concerning Hate Crime Penalty Enhancement Laws

Measuring Attitudes About Hate: Development of the Hate Crime Beliefs Scale

Assessing attitudes about hate: Further validation of the hate crime beliefs scale

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