Citation

Horn R, Hollin CR. Leg. Crim. Psychol. 1997; 2(2): 193-204.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, British Psychological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.2044-8333.1997.tb00343.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Objectives. This study looked at police and non-police beliefs about offenders. It was hypothesized that police officers would have a more negative attitude than non-police officers towards offenders, and that female offenders would be viewed in a more positive way than male offenders. Police officers were expected to perceive greater differences between male and female offenders than the public.Methods. An adapted version of Melvin, Gramling & Gardner's (1985) Attitude Towards Prisoners scale was used to measure attitudes towards male and female offenders. The sample consisted of 135 police officers and 201 non-police officers.Results. Factor analysis of responses suggested three main factors: one concerning the 'fundamental badness' of offenders; one concerning the similarity of offenders and non-offenders; and one concerning the extent to which offenders can be trusted. Analyses of variance indicated that police officers viewed offenders as less similar to non-offenders, and less trustworthy, than the public did. Both police and non-police respondents saw women offenders as less 'fundamentally bad' than male offenders, as more similar to non-offenders, and as more trustworthy than male offenders. No significant interactions were found.Conclusions. Women offenders are believed to be significantly different from male offenders, but police and non-police respondents' beliefs about male and female offenders do not differ significantly. Future research could usefully look at the relationship betweeen policewomen and female offenders, and a more qualitative approach would allow a more contextual analysis to be made of beliefs about women offenders.

Language: en