The Effect of Race and Gender on Attributions of Stalking

Duff, Simon C.; Hay, Jonathan; Kerry, Jessica; Whittam, Alyssa

Abstract

© 2020 by the Southwestern Social Science Association Objective: This study is concerned with examining the impact of the extralegal factors of race and gender in attributions of stalking and motivation in examples of heterosexual, low-level stalking behavior. Methods: A 4 (race pairing of protagonist and target) × 2 (gender pairing of protagonist and target) between- participants design, using a vignette incorporating faces of the protagonist and target, asked participants to identify the extent to which they considered the behavior stalking, the motivation for that behavior, and provide responses to measures of racism and sexism. Results: The results identify that intraracial behavior is considered more like stalking than interracial behavior, that female-to-male behavior is considered more like stalking than male-to-female, and that gender and race do not impact on the attributed motivations for the behavior. Both racism and sexism do contribute to attributions of stalking. Conclusion: The influence of race on attributions of stalking mirrors that of findings in other areas of crime and is important in understanding decision making.

Citation

Duff, S. C., Hay, J., Kerry, J., & Whittam, A. (2020). The Effect of Race and Gender on Attributions of Stalking. Social Science Quarterly, 101(2), 573-587. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12761

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 18, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Deposit Date: Jan 13, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 21, 2022
• Journal: Social Science Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 0038-4941
• Electronic ISSN: 1540-6237
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 101
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 573-587
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12761
• Keywords: General Social Sciences
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3717851
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ssqu.12761
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Duff, S.C., Hay, J., Kerry, J. and Whittam, A. (2020), The Effect of Race and Gender on Attributions of Stalking. Social Science Quarterly, 101: 573-587., which has been published in final form at ps://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12761. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.