NCJ Number
113673
Journal
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 18 Issue: 12 Dated: (September 1988) Pages: 1017-1031
Date Published
1988
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined one potential source of bias in the use of the dangerous-offender provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code: an offender's physical attractiveness.
Abstract
The Canadian Criminal Code contains provisions for labeling certain convicted offenders as dangerous offenders. Sentences of indefinite duration are usually imposed on these offenders in place of the fixed sentences that would normally be imposed. In this study, 284 adults were given information about a hypothetical offender, including a facial photograph and a conviction record. They responded to questions about the dangerousness of the offender, including questions drawn from the dangerous-offender criteria. Subjects perceived physically unattractive sexual offenders as significantly more likely to fulfill the dangerous-offender criteria than average-looking and attractive sexual offenders. In particular, unattractive sexual offenders were seen as significantly less likely to restrain their behavior in the future. Since there is currently no evidence that physical attractiveness is a valid predictor of sexual offender recidivism, this finding provides grounds to question whether the dangerous offender provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code, as they now stand, can be administered impartially. 1 table, 2 figures, 12 references. (Author abstract modified)