Public Perceptions of Victims and Defendants: Identity, Traits, and Stereotypes

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This thematic panel explores the roles of identity characteristics, traits, and stereotypes in shaping public responses to crime victims and defendants, with a particular focus on understanding sentencing preferences and evaluations of blameworthiness. Presentations investigate: the nature and measurement of stereotypes of Asian women (SAW) and their role in shaping sentencing preferences for anti-Asian hate crime; victim characteristics and stereotypes as sources of victim blaming, sentencing preferences, and classifications of offenses as hate crimes; public responses to incidents of violence against racialized transgender or cisgender victims, including victim blaming and sentencing preferences; and sentencing preferences and perceptions of the blameworthiness of criminal defendants characterized as having biological or environmental risk factors. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Sub Unit

• Area VIII. Perceptions of Crime & Justice / 62. Attitudes about the Criminal Justice System & Punishment

Individual Presentations

• Assessing Stereotypes of Asian Women (SAW) and Responses to Anti-Asian Hate Crime - Luzi Shi, University of Rhode Island; Jason Silver, Rutgers University - Newark

• Victim Characteristics and Stereotypes in Evaluations of Anti-Asian Hate Crime: Results from a National Survey Experiment - Jason Silver, Rutgers University - Newark; Luzi Shi, University of Rhode Island

• Public Punitiveness for Perpetrators of Crimes Against Sex Workers: The Roles of Transphobia and Misogynoir - Kristin Jeniece Lurie, University of Cincinnati

• Nature vs. Nurture: An Assessment of Punitiveness - Francesco DiRienzo, University of Cincinnati; Hexuan Liu, University of Cincinnati

Chair

• Jason Silver, Rutgers University - Newark

Organized by a Division or external group?

Division of Public Opinion and Policy (DPOP)