Does the Age of Offenders and Victims in Crime Scenarios Affect Perceptions of Crime Seriousness and Punitiveness Among Students?

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Bensimon ◽  
Ehud Bodner
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Crime Seriousness ◽  
Older Offenders ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
Perceptions Of Crime ◽  
Crime Scenarios

The extent to which the age of the offender or the victim influences respondents’ respective evaluations of crime seriousness and punitiveness has rarely been studied. This study hypothesizes that evaluations of the severity of offenses with intrapersonal and interpersonal social implications and the estimation of their punitiveness will be more serious when the offenses are performed by younger than by older offenders and less serious when they harm younger as opposed to older victims. Results from 129 undergraduate students who were administered the Multidimensional Social Transgressions Scale (MSTS) confirm the hypotheses. The findings are discussed in light of crime theories, social theories, and ageism studies.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Crime Seriousness and Punitive Attitudes in Post-Secondary Students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jantje Wilhelmina Van de Weetering
Keyword(s):  
Punitive Attitudes ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Crime Severity ◽  
Crime Seriousness ◽  
The Social ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Perceptions Of Crime ◽  
The One ◽  
Crime Scenarios ◽  
Influence Perceptions

Public perceptions of crime seriousness and attitudes towards the punishment of crime stem from the social norms and values that shape society and are informed by ways of knowing about crime. Located within a social constructionist paradigm, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of post-secondary education, crime type and crime representation on perceptions of crime severity and punitive attitudes for different crime types. A sample of 971 students from the University of Winnipeg completed an online questionnaire measuring perceptions of crime severity for one-line crime descriptions as well as crime scenarios based on actual court data. Results show that both wrongfulness and harmfulness are strong predictors of perceived seriousness. As predicted, violent crimes ranked highest on measures of seriousness, wrongfulness, and harmfulness, and received the most severe sentencing recommendations. While the level of education completed had no significant difference on perceptions of crime severity, differences between fields of study showed significance. Comparisons between responses to the one-line crime descriptions and the crime scenarios revealed significantly stronger severity ratings for the scenarios than for the one-line descriptions although the ranking of crimes remained similar. Findings suggest that universal notions of wrongfulness and harmfulness exist that influence perceptions of seriousness and are resistant to change. Perceptions towards crimes are informed by a socially constructed reality of crime that shapes our knowledge of crime. Understanding the underlying factors that influence perceptions and attitudes towards crime may shed new light on the social approaches to dealing with crime and provides new insights into crime control practices and government crime policy. Finally, results also emphasize the importance of reflecting on the matter of crime representation in academic research.

Perceptions of Crime Seriousness and Fear of Crime

1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Newhart Smith ◽  
Gary D. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Crime Seriousness ◽  
Perceptions Of Crime

Public Perceptions of Crime Seriousness: A Comparison of Social Divisions in Israel

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Crime Seriousness ◽  
Criminal Offenses ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
Perceived Seriousness ◽  
Perceptions Of Crime ◽  
Violent Offenses

Crime seriousness research indicates that respondents from varying social and cultural groups rank the perceived seriousness of offenses similarly, with violent offenses as the most serious, followed by property, economic, and victimless offenses. It has also consistently been found, however, that the specific ratings of offenses by respondents from different social groups often differ. Because Israel is considered a deeply divided society, this article focuses on the comparison of public perceptions of the seriousness of varied criminal offenses between respondents belonging to varying central social groups in the countiy. As expected, the findings show similar, albeit not identical, rankings of offenses and important differences in the rating of specific offenses across groups. These findings are interpreted in the context of the Israeli society.

Sex, Hypermasculinity, and Hyperfemininity in Perception of Social Cues in Neutral Interactions

2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne D. Bartolucci ◽  
Amos Zeichner
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sexual Coercion ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Recall Accuracy ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Opposite Sex

Sexual coercion is a prevalent problem on U.S. college campuses. One potential avenue by which it may occur is the misinterpretation of social cues, and such misperception may be mediated by extreme sex role adherence, i.e., hypermasculinity and hyperfemininity. 62 undergraduate students viewed a film of a neutral interaction between a college-aged man and woman. Subsequently, participants indicated which behaviors they remembered the opposite-sex actor performing, offered a prediction as to the outcome of the scenario and what they would do had they been in a similar situation, and then completed either the Hypermasculinity Inventory or the Hyperfemininity Scale. Scores on the former correlated negatively with recall accuracy, and men indicated that they were more likely to date and have sex with the actress than women reported being likely to date or have sex with the actor. Women reported a high perceived likelihood of dating the actor coupled with the expectation that he would have sex with the actress. Likewise, women expected to be sexually coerced by the actor had they been in a similar situation. Social implications of these findings and possible research are discussed.

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