Sex offenders have been consistently treated with malintent and disgust by society, with an emphasis on fear and increased punitiveness during criminal cases (Olver & Barlow, 2010). Transgender individuals have additionally been treated with a similar negative stigma (James et al., 2015); however, very little research has investigated the effects of gender identity on the public’s perceptions of sex offenders. This study predicted that female sex offenders will be treated more leniently compared to male sex offenders, transgender sex offenders will be sentenced similarly to cisgender sex offenders, and attitudes towards sex offenders will consistently influence participants’ sentencing preference. A sample of 118 participants split between four conditions – Male Sex Offender (N = 31), Female Sex Offender (N = 28), Transgender Male Sex Offender (N = 28), and Transgender Female Sex Offender (N = 31) – read a vignette describing a sexual offence and completed a set of questionnaires assessing their biases, perceptions, and judgements of the offender. Half the participants were provided with a vignette detailing the offender’s gender identity and were asked to re-evaluate their judgements towards the offender. Contrary to the hypotheses, results demonstrated that male and female sex offenders were treated identically and while transgender and cisgender offenders received similar culpability and recidivism scores, transgender offenders were treated as less amenable to change. Finally, attitudes towards sex offenders, attitudes towards transgender individuals, and the growth mindset demonstrated the highest correlational relationship with judgment scores for all offenders. The current study highlights the importance of understanding sentencing judgements of sex offenders and the perceptions that result in harsher attitudes. Consequently, applications of intervention methods to reduce negative stigmas towards offenders are discussed to ensure increased acceptance upon release and accordingly reduce recidivism rates amongst reformed sex offenders.
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