Original scientific paper

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STIGMATIZATION OF CONVICTED OFFENDERS

Martina Lotar ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet
Željka Kamenov ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet
Marija Lebedina-Manzoni ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet

Abstract

The stigmatization of criminal offenders often includes the idea that the perpetrators are ‘just bad people who can’t change themselves’
and this may encourage the development of the criminal identity of the person or prevent his/her change leading to the return
of a criminal lifestyle after completing his prison sentence. Offenders are a very heterogeneous group with regard to the offense that
they committed, their socioeconomic status, education level, age, but primarily with regard to gender. It is expected that the perception
of men and women who have committed a criminal offense will be different, and thus the stigmatization of the public towards
these two groups of offenders will vary.
The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in the stigmatization of convicted offenders based on gender of
participants and offenders.
The study included 387 participants, 192 men and 195 women. Half of the participants assessed men who were convicted of committing
criminal offenses as an object of stigmatization (n=191), and the other half evaluated women who were convicted of the crime
(n=196).
Participants fi lled out a scale of attitudes toward male and female offenders, the check-list of stereotypes, social distance scale, and
responded to questions about socio-demographic data (gender, age, education level, marital status, size of the place where they live).
The results have shown that participants have more positive attitudes toward women who have committed a criminal offense, their
stereotypes about women who have committed a criminal offense has been more positive, and social distance toward female offenders
was lower than toward male offenders. In addition, male participants have more positive attitudes toward offenders regardless of their
gender, and their social distance toward offender is smaller than social distance toward female participants. There is no interaction
between participants’ gender and offenders’ gender on the attitudes, the positivity/negativity of the stereotypes, or the social distance
toward offenders.

Keywords

stigmatization; convicted offenders; gender

Hrčak ID:

62466

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/62466

Publication date:

20.12.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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