TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - The influence of a juvenile's abuse history on support for sex offender registration
JO  - Psychology, public policy, and law
A1  - Stevenson, Margaret C.
A1  - Najdowski, Cynthia J.
A1  - Salerno, Jessica M.
A1  - Wiley, Tisha R. A.
A1  - Bottoms, Bette L.
A1  - Farnum, Katlyn S.
SP  - 35
EP  - 49
VL  - 21
IS  - 1
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 1076-8971
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/law0000028
ID  - ref1
ER  -