Examining the judgments of pedophiles in relation to a non-sexual offense. Issue 9 (20th October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maroño, Abbie; Bartels, Ross M.
• Is Part Of: Psychology, crime & law. Volume 26:Issue 9(2020)
• Page Start: 887
• Page End: 901
• Publication Date: 2020-10-20
• Subjects: Pedophilia -- stigma -- nonsexual offense -- reverse halo effect -- sexual orientation; Criminal psychology -- Periodicals; Law -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; 364.3
• DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2020.1742339
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1068-316X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Even though pedophilia is not synonymous with child sexual abuse, it remains a highly stigmatized phenomenon. As such, non-offending pedophilic individuals are judged as being dangerous, abnormal, amoral, and in need of punishment. It is unknown, however, whether a pedophilic individual would be judged more harshly than a heterosexual individual and a homosexual individual in relation to a nonsexual, nonviolent offense. This was the aim of the present study. A final sample of 309 participants were recruited online and allocated to one of three sexual orientation conditions. Participants read the same hypothetical crime report (breaking and entering) followed by a suspect profile that was identical across conditions except for sexual orientation. They then provided sentencing and moral character judgements of the suspect. Participants also completed a punitive attitudes scale pertaining to pedophilia. Results showed that the pedophilic individual received harsher judgments relative to the heterosexual individual, but only at higher levels of pre-existing punitive attitudes. These findings suggest that anti-pedophilia stigma can bias judgments about offenses that are not sexual. We argue that this is due to a 'reverse halo effect'. However, we consider an alternative explanation based on the idea of interpreting information in a schema-consistent manner. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.