Examining the Link between Media Representations and Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders using a Dual-Process Framework Craig Andrew Harper A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Lincoln for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2016 ABSTRACT Attitudes towards sexual offenders have been widely studied in forensic psychology and criminology research over the past 25 years. At present, however, studies examining these views are predominantly descriptive in nature. That is, self-report questionnaire measures are typically distributed to different groups (e.g., general public samples, and members of different occupational categories), with the resultant between-groups differences being reported in research papers. While these studies have provided some interesting findings, the results gained from them fail to inform researchers about the psychological mechanisms that underpin views about this offending population. The overarching aim of this thesis was to begin to fill this knowledge gap. That is, a range of studies were designed to use robust experimental methods, within validated theoretical paradigms, in order to examine some of the potential constructs that influence people’s attitudes towards sexual offenders. Chapter 1 presents a review of the current state of the field in relation to attitudes towards sexual offenders, with gaps in current knowledge being identified. In Chapter 2, the theoretical framework within which the empirical aspects of the thesis operate is set out. Key constructs in this section include dual-process cognition, and our reliance on implicit (i.e., non-conscious) mental processes when making decisions. Chapter 3 builds upon criticisms of one measure of attitudes towards sexual offenders in order to reconceptualise its use into one of an outcome measure. This is then used throughout Chapters 4, 5, and 6 as a measure of sentencing and risk judgements, in order to examine the effects of various experimental manipulations. Studies presented in Chapter 4 found that heuristic- based processes based around the principles of availability appear to influence decision- making about sexual offenders at the macro (political) level, but not at the micro (individual) level. Instead, individual participants’ attitudes and judgements about sexual offenders were dependent on different primes relating to the representativeness (Chapter 5) and affect (Chapter 6) heuristics. Chapter 7 offers a discussion of the empirical findings presented at earlier points of the thesis, and outlines opportunities to develop further work into the heuristic-based nature of attitudes towards sexual offenders. The work contained within this thesis is original, in that well-validated theoretical models are used to begin to examine the psychological mechanisms that may underpin attitudes ii towards sexual offenders. The apparent dual-process nature of such views calls into question some previously-expressed calls within the literature that presenting fact-based information about sexual offenders may lead to improvements in societal attitudes. Instead, it may be that more indirect and emotional methods may be required to achieve such aims. Towards the end of the thesis, clear opportunities for further work are set out, as are some of the potential implications of this research. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis represents the culmination of approximately six years of academic work, which started at undergraduate level and continued further than I had ever imagined that it would. As such, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to a number of people who have guided me in the right direction, kept me on track with my thinking, and challenged me intellectually on some of the decisions that I have made in this process. Firstly, I thank Prof. Todd Hogue for his expert guidance and personal support throughout this journey. Todd’s work was influential in my early academic research, and he has continued to challenge and guide me as I continue to develop as an academic. Secondly, I am grateful to Dr. Ross Bartels, who joined the supervision team at a later date, but had an enormous impact on the direction and quality of the experimental work that makes up a large section of the latter portions of the thesis. I am grateful for his support and guidance in the setting-up and running of these studies, and for his advice in editing my sometimes flowery use of the English language. To you both, I am thankful that we have not only developed great research collaborations, but also strong friendships along the way. I am also grateful to Liam McCann who, despite taking a less prominent role in the supervision of this work, has always been constructive and helpful in his approach to this research. Academically, a number of people have been on-hand to offer advice and challenge my thinking on a variety of issues. I have found working within the Forensic and Clinical Psychology Research Group at the University of Lincoln to be a constructive experience, and specifically would like to thank Drs. Hannah Merdian and Dave Dawson for their questions and comments about some of the theoretical issues raised in this work. These may have been difficult conversations at the time, but they have helped clarify my thinking immensely! I would also like to thank Zoë Mead, whose administrative support in the School may often be overlooked in sections such as these, but who has made the process of undertaking a PhD so much easier. Conducting a PhD takes an enormous toll on a candidate, both professionally and personally. For this reason, I would like to thank those friends and family who have been there to keep me grounded, but who have been supportive during difficult times. iv Specifically to my Mum and Dad, who have offered practical, emotional, and (at times) financial support to make this work possible, I am thankful. Football sessions with colleagues throughout the University have helped to distract from the grind of writing a thesis, as well as getting us all up from behind our desks to get moving at least once a week! I am also grateful to friends like Joshua Hogue, Jolien Vos, and Viet-Hai Phung, who have always been on hand for a drink and a pub quiz to keep me in touch with other issues away from the thesis. Perhaps most of all, I am thankful to Charlotte Wesson, who has been my ‘partner in crime’ for the last two years of this research programme. Not only has she kept me in-check when I’m stressing about the smallest of research details, but she has given me so many great experiences along the way. I can’t wait to see where the rest of our journey takes us. Of course, this work would not have been possible without the financial support of the University of Lincoln’s College of Social Sciences, or without the many participants who volunteered their time to provide me with data about this difficult issue. To them, I am also grateful. The PhD experience has developed me hugely as an academic. The work arguably raises more questions than it answers, such is the nature of exploratory studies. As such, this is just the beginning, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter… Craig A. Harper June 2016 v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xi PART 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders: What Do We Know, and Why are They Important? ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1. Discriminating ‘Attitudes’ from ‘Perceptions’ ........................................ 6 1.2. Measuring Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders ................................................. 7 1.2.1. The Attitudes to Sexual Offenders (ATS) Scale ..................................... 7 1.2.2. The Community Attitudes towards Sex Offenders (CATSO) Scale ....... 8 1.2.3. Non-Standardized Measures of Perceptions of Sexual Offenders ........ 10 1.2.4. Indirect Assessment of Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders ................ 11 1.2.5. Section Summary .................................................................................. 12 1.3. Factors Underpinning Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders ............................. 13 1.3.1. The Influence of Perceivers’ Characteristics on Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders ............................................................................................... 13 1.3.2. Offence-Related Influences on Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders .... 15 1.3.3. Professional Influences on Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders .......... 16 1.3.4. Section Summary .................................................................................. 17 1.4. The Malleability of Attitudes towards Sexual Offenders ................................