Sociodemographic Predictors of Sex Offender Stigma: How Politics Impact Attitudes, Social Distance, and Perceptions of Sex Offender Recidivism

Abstract

Stigma toward general criminal offenders has been found to be particularly salient among community members who identify as politically conservative; however, less is known about how political identification relates to stigma toward sex offenders. This is a particularly important area of inquiry, given that criminal jurisprudence and politics legitimatize stigmatizing labels attributed to sex offenders through laws and policies that apply specifically to this group. A nonrandom sample ( N = 518) of participants living in the United States was recruited for this survey study. Findings indicated that a specific aspect of conservative political ideology-right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)-significantly predicts negative attitudes and intended social distancing behavior toward sex offenders, even when controlling for other important predictors, such as education and prior contact. RWA was found to be the strongest predictor of negative attitudes and estimations of sex offender recidivism, and also significantly predicted intended social distancing behavior. Implications for addressing stigma toward sex offenders are discussed.

Parks, Playgrounds, and Incidents of Sexual Assault

“…Views about the level of violent crime and “undesirable users of parks” (e.g., drug users, loiterers) have resulted in reduced park use, especially for parents with daughters (Gomez, Johnson, Selva, & Sallis, 2004; McCormack et al, 2010). These open social spaces have also triggered the fear of stranger danger (Gomez et al, 2004; McCormack et al, 2010), which in turn is linked to concerns about sexual violence (Budd & Mancini, 2016; DeLuca et al, 2018). Few crime types have generated more fear than sexual assault perpetrated against youth by strangers, and this extends to perceptions that youth “.…”

Psychiatric and Forensic Differences Between Men Charged with Sex Offences and Men Charged with Other Offences

“…We can explain this difference by two streams of thought. On the one hand, sex offences are looked at as dirty and stigmatizing for both the victim and the offender, so a person admitting this kind of crime would be exposed to much more stigma and embarrassment than the offenders of other types of crimes (31). On the other hand, in cases of sex offences there are usually no witnesses and there is less material evidence, so sometimes it is the word of the victim against the word of the person accused.…”

Going Off the Grid: Assessing Sentencing Departures for Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses

“…This research has highlighted that the public holds particularly punitive orientations toward this group (Pickett et al, 2013;Socia & Harris, 2016), in part because of pervasive stereotypes homogenizing such individuals into a high-risk class of predators (Sample & Bray, 2003). These stereotypes are conceptualized as older, recidivist males with young, stranger victims (DeLuca et al, 2018;Levenson et al, 2007;King & Roberts, 2017). Public opinion surveys find a majority of respondents view these offenders as a "one-size-fits-all category" with a high risk for reoffending (Socia & Harris, 2016, p. 382).…”