NCJ Number
237848
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 25 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 848-862
Date Published
May 2010
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article discusses blame attribution as a valuable mechanism explaining decisionmaking.
Abstract
Blame attribution is a valuable mechanism explaining decisionmaking. However, present literature mainly employs blame attribution as a dependent variable. The shortcoming of this fact is that blame attribution offers a potentially valuable explanatory mechanism for decisionmaking. The authors designed two studies to investigate blame attribution as a moderator of sentencing decisions in sexual orientationbased hate crimes. Study 1 showed that mock jurors punished perpetrators of hate crimes more severely than a control condition. Also, degree of victim blame influenced punitive decisionmaking. In Study 2, mock jurors extended findings that perpetrators of hate crimes are more harshly punished than those of other types of crimes. Victim and perpetrator blame failed to moderate decisionmaking in this more complex scenario. Results are discussed in relation to hate crimes definitions and attribution theory. (Published Abstract)