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Police officer perceptions of harassment in E ngland and S cotland
Author(s) -
Sheridan Lorraine,
Scott Adrian J.,
Nixon Keri
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
legal and criminological psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2044-8333
pISSN - 1355-3259
DOI - 10.1111/lcrp.12049
Subject(s) - stalking , harassment , officer , perception , psychology , social psychology , criminal justice , criminology , political science , law , neuroscience
Purpose Research has demonstrated that certain relational biases exist within perceptions of stalking. One such bias concerns the perception that ex‐partner stalkers are less dangerous than those who target strangers or acquaintances despite applied research suggesting the opposite. Method In all, 135 police officers in England (where stalking has been outlawed since 1997) and 127 police officers in Scotland (where stalking has been outlawed since 2010) responded to vignettes describing a stalking scenario in which the perpetrator and victim were portrayed as strangers, acquaintances, or ex‐partners. Results Although typical relational biases existed in both samples, Scottish police officers were less susceptible to these biases than English police officers. Victim responsibility mediated the relation between prior relationship and perceptions of stalking for the English, but not the Scottish, police officers. Conclusions Future work should examine whether these biases may be found in other areas of the criminal justice system, and how far they are influenced by policy, practice, and training.