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College Students’ Punishment Perceptions of Online Solicitation of Children for Sex

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Abstract

The present study addresses the perceptions of university students regarding punishments for individuals whom engage in the online solicitation of children for sex. Differences in biological sex and age of victim and sex of offender may influence university students’ views of punishment for this behavior. Using self-reports from a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial survey, the results indicate that respondent sex, political ideology, and offender sex are important factors in explaining punitiveness for engaging in the online solicitation of a child for sex. Interestingly, victim age was shown to not influence punitive perceptions of online solicitation of children for sex. These results are discussed in the context of policy implications.

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Notes

  1. While sampling of college students may be criticized for lack of generalizability, it is an appropriate group to use in exploratory research. The results of this study will guide future research utilizing different samples and the present study’s use of college students contributes to the literature on college students’ perceptions of criminal behavior.

  2. The researchers understand that convenience samples are not optimal. However, they provide solid information for new grounds of research, such as this study (Broidy 2001).

  3. While we use the term “punitiveness” to describe the dependent variable in this study, we would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for pointing out that the item is not actually measuring punitiveness, but rather capturing students’ attitudes toward the current statute. Measuring students’ perceptions of the statute is the goal of the dependent variable. We use the term “punitiveness” throughout the paper due to higher scores on the item indicating more punitive attitudes (i.e., more than 5 years is needed). The researchers only use the term in this context and not as a descriptor of different punitive levels.

  4. After reverse coding sex (i.e., female = 1, male = 0), we determined that the regression coefficients were identical, with sex in the opposite direction. As such, we can also conclude that females tend to be more punitive than males.

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  1. Department of Justice Administration, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Scott E. Wolfe & George E. Higgins

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  1. Scott E. Wolfe
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  2. George E. Higgins
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Correspondence to George E. Higgins.

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Wolfe, S.E., Higgins, G.E. College Students’ Punishment Perceptions of Online Solicitation of Children for Sex. Am J Crim Just 33, 193–208 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-008-9039-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-008-9039-x

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