Citation

Wiley TRA, Bottoms BL. Law Hum. Behav. 2009; 33(1): 46-60.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Illinios at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison St. (MC 285), Chicago, IL, 60607-7137, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1007/s10979-008-9131-2

PMID

18404363

Abstract

We examined mock jurors' reactions to a sexual abuse case involving a male teacher and a 10-year-old child. Because gay men are sometimes stereotyped as child molesters, we portrayed defendant sexual orientation as either gay or straight and the victim as either a boy or girl. Jurors made more pro-prosecution decisions in cases involving a gay versus straight defendant, particularly when the victim was a boy. In boy-victim cases, jurors' emotional feelings of moral outrage toward the defendant mediated these effects. On average, women jurors were more pro-prosecution than were men. Results have implications for understanding social perceptions of cross- and same-gender child sexual abuse and juror decision making in child sexual assault cases perpetrated by homosexual and heterosexual men.

Language: en