Citation

Quas JA, Bottoms BL, Haegerich TM, Nysse‐Carris KL. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2002; 32(10): 1993-2021.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb02061.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We examined the combined influence of juror, victim, and defendant gender on jurors’ decisions in child sexual abuse cases. Mock jurors read scenarios of an assault case involving a man or woman defendant accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy or girl. Jurors then rendered verdicts and rated the defendant's and victim's believability and responsibility for the abuse. Female jurors were generally more pro-victim in case judgments than were male jurors. Additionally, a woman perpetrator was evaluated more leniently than was a man perpetrator, especially by male jurors when the victim was a boy. Case judgments were unrelated to jurors’ social conservatism, sexism, or attitudes toward homosexuality. Results have implications for understanding social perceptions of mixed- and same-gender abuse involving adolescent victims, and juror decision making in man- and woman-perpetrated child sexual assault cases.