The Influence of Victim and Perpetrator Empathy on Punitive Attitudes Toward Individuals Who Sexually Offend

Public attitudes toward individuals who sexually offend often drive policy support, despite a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of these policies in reducing recidivism. Empathy for both victims and perpetrators may shape these attitudes, but its precise role in policy support remains unclear. U.S.-based participants ( N = 287, 52% female, 74% White, 18–77 years old) from Connect answered questionnaires measuring various facets of empathy, ATS-21, and specific empathy for a man and a woman in a TED Talk video. We predicted both direct and indirect effects of empathy on policy support through attitudes toward individuals who sexually offend, as well as the potential for participant gender differences in these effects. Victim empathy was directly associated with more punitive policy attitudes, whereas perpetrator empathy was not. Perpetrator empathy predicted more favorable attitudes toward individuals who sexually offend than did victim empathy. Indirect effects of both victim and perpetrator empathy through ATS-21 were significant as well. These results held across empathy facets, highlighting the value of considering empathy holistically in research. Efforts to raise perpetrator empathy should not diminish victim empathy but instead should aim to promote a nuanced understanding of individuals who sexually offend and their varied profiles.