Exploring Public Attitudes Towards the Treatment of Sexual Offenders

Sexual offenders provoke high levels of anxiety and fear within our society as consequence of the socially created moral panic. Resulting in governments passing a variety of laws to increase the protection and safety of the public. This study examined public attitudes towards the ways in which sexual offenders are dealt with once convicted; including prison, treatment methods and community notification. Data was obtained from 100 participants from the Leeds and West Yorkshire area, who completed a demographic questionnaire and an 18-item attitude towards the treatment of sexual offenders scale, which were developed for the present study. Hypothesis': Females and parents would be more in favour for community notification and hold more punitive attitudes towards the treatment of sexual offenders than males and non – parents. Males and non-parents would be more in favour of treatment methods for sexual offenders than females or parents. An importance was placed on how participants obtained the majority of their knowledge regarding sexual offending. The results provide additional support to the current evidence base.