Prison officer students’ perceptions of persons convicted of sexual crimes

Christine Friestad,Hilde Pape,Kristian Mjåland

doi:10.1177/14773708211038538

Abstract

This study investigated the dimensionality of the Perception of Sex Offenders scale among prison officer students in Norway, and whether the students’ perceptions of this group of prisoners changed during their theoretical education and 1-year practical training. The target sample comprised a full cohort of freshman prison officer students, and two waves of data collection were conducted. The response rate was 94% ( n = 188) at time 1 (T1) and 64% ( n = 112) at time 2 (T2). The originally reported three-dimensional structure of the Perception of Sex Offenders scale was replicated in our sample. Moreover, the results supported our hypothesis that prison officer students were likely to hold less punitive views about sentencing and punishment at the end (T2) than at the beginning (T1) of their education. However, their endorsement of risk did not change, while the tendency to adhere to stereotypical images of persons convicted of sex offenses increased.

Highlights

Public attitudes towards persons convicted of sexual crimes are consistently negative (Bogle and Chumney, 2006; Shackley et al, 2013)
There was a small preponderance of males in the study sample at both time 1 (T1) (55%) and time 2 (T2) (53%)
A solid majority was younger than 30 years of age, and unsurprisingly, this age group decreased slightly from T1 (89%) to T2 (82%)

Summary

Introduction

Public attitudes towards persons convicted of sexual crimes are consistently negative (Bogle and Chumney, 2006; Shackley et al, 2013). Professionals working with rehabilitation of persons convicted of sexual crimes may be influenced by this general social climate of negativity, which is a potential obstacle to optimal outcomes (Willis et al, 2010). Challenging and correcting such negative attitudes might be significant for improving outcomes of rehabilitation among persons convicted of sexual crimes. The interventions involve exposure (Blagden et al, 2016; Gakhal and Brown, 2011; Hogue and Peebles, 1997; Johnson et al, 2007; Radley, 2011), training and education (Harper et al, 2016; King and Roberts, 2015; Malinen et al, 2014), and have been directed towards different professions, including psychologists (Hogue, 1993) and prison officers (Kjelsberg and Loos, 2008; Ware et al, 2012)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion