Attitudes towards offenders: effects of the victim type and the offender’s age
Attitudes towards offenders: effects of the victim type and the offender’s age

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this present study is to assess the impact of victim type and offender‘s characteristics on the personality evaluation and punishment given to the offender. A 3 (victim type: the person his/herself, one of the parents versus an unknown person) x 2 (offender‘s age: minor versus adult) experimental design was used. The results indicated that the evaluation of offender‘s personality traits was not significantly influenced by the victim type. There was a significant main effect of the type of offender on evaluation, more negative traits being attributed to the adult offender than to the minor one. There was a significant effect of the victim type on offender punishment. When the victim was an unknown person and the offender was a minor, the participants were less punitive and more in favor of rehabilitation, compared to the situation when the victim was the person him/herself or one of the parents and the offender was an adult. The results are discussed from a deviant subculture perspective.

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