@article{ref1,
title="The influence of a juvenile's abuse history on support for sex offender registration",
journal="Psychology, public policy, and law",
year="2015",
author="Stevenson, Margaret C. and Najdowski, Cynthia J. and Salerno, Jessica M. and Wiley, Tisha R. A. and Bottoms, Bette L. and Farnum, Katlyn S.",
volume="21",
number="1",
pages="35-49",
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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1076-8971",
doi="10.1037/law0000028",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/law0000028"
}