GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STIGMATIZATION OF CONVICTED OFFENDERS

Stigmatizacija počinitelja kaznenih djela često uključuje ideju da su počinitelji ‘jednostavno loše osobe koje se ne mogu promijeniti’ te to može poticati razvoj kriminalnog identiteta osobe ili onemogućiti njegovo mijenjanje što dovodi do povratka kriminalnom životnom stilu nakon odsluženja kazne zatvora. Počinitelji kaznenih djela čine vrlo heterogenu skupinu s obzirom na kazneno djelo koje su počinili, njihov socioekonomski status, stupanj obrazovanja, dob, ali prije svega i s obzirom na spol. Za očekivati je da će percepcija muškaraca i žena koji su počinili kazneno djelo biti drugačija, a samim time će se razlikovati i stigmatizacija javnosti prema te dvije skupine počinitelja. Cilj ovog istraživanja je utvrditi postoje li razlike u stigmatizaciji osuđenih počinitelja kaznenih djela s obzirom na spol sudionika i počinitelja. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 387 sudionika, od čega je 192 muškaraca i 195 žena. Polovica sudionika je kao objekt stigmatizacije procjenjivala muškarce koji su osuđeni za činjenje kaznenog djela (n=191), a druga polovica je procjenjivala žene koje su osuđene za kazneno djelo (n=196). Sudionici su ispunili skalu stavova prema muškim ili ženskim osuđenim počiniteljima kaznenih djela, listu za označavanje stereotipa, skalu socijalne distance te su odgovorili na pitanja kojima se ispituju sociodemografski podaci (spol, dob, stupanj obrazovanja, bračni status, veličina mjesta u kojem žive). Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su kako sudionici imaju pozitivnije stavove prema ženama koje su počinile kazneno djelo, njihovi stereotipi o ženama koje su počinile kazneno djelo su pozitivniji, a socijalna distanca sudionika prema počiniteljicama je manja u odnosu na počinitelje. Osim toga, muškarci imaju pozitivnije stavove prema počiniteljima kaznenih djela, bez obzira na spol, a njihova socijalna distanca prema počiniteljima je manja nego socijalna distanca žena. Ne postoji interakcija spola sudionika i spola počinitelja na stavove prema počiniteljima, na pozitivnost/negativnost stereotipa o počiniteljima, niti na socijalnu distancu.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