title: The Influence of a Juvenile's Abuse History on Support for Sex Offender Registration.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Evansville.
authors.forename: Margaret C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State University of New York.
authors.forename: Cynthia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Najdowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Tisha R A
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Wiley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Bette L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Bottoms
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
authors.forename: Katlyn S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Farnum
keywords: attributions; child sexual abuse; juvenile sex offending; legal decision making; public policy