Young Offenders' Explanations of Crime and Preferred Method of Disposition

Abstract

This paper examines the hypothesis that sex offenders might differ from non-sex offenders in causes attributed to and disposition advocated for sex and other offences. Fifteen of the 33 subjects were sex offenders, the remainder having committed a variety of other offences. Subjects listened to the details of four audiotape fabricated crimes (rape, robbery, arson, manslaughter), then verbally completed a previously validated scale of explanations of offending, and finally recommended a type of disposition. No significant difference in causal explanation was found between sex and non-sex offenders; although sex offenders appeared more treatment-oriented in their preferred means of disposition. Across all subjects there was an interaction between type of crime and explanation, replicating previous research that found that explanations of crime amongst the general population are crime-specific. A contradiction between the attribution of mental instability and punitive disposition for rape was discussed in relation to a labelling hypothesis of sex offenders.