TY - JOUR
T1 - Attitudes of the Hong Kong Chinese public towards sex offending policies
T2 - The role of stereotypical views of sex offenders
AU - Chui, Wing Hong
AU - Cheng, Kevin Kwok yin
AU - Yoke-chan Ong, Rebecca
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong for the CityU Start-Up grant which provided the funding for the research.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2014.
PY - 2015/1/19
Y1 - 2015/1/19
N2 - The Hong Kong government recently introduced a sex offender registry that gives the public access to records of sexual offence conviction. This step was taken in the context of a penal system that traditionally places a high value on rehabilitation and a culture that traditionally supports rape myths. This study explores public attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese towards a variety of sex offending policies and the variables, particularly stereotypical views of offenders, which may influence them. Overall, support was expressed for policies that sought to manage the risk posed by sex offenders. This shift is explained by the emergence of a fear of sex offenders as Hong Kong tries to maintain its reputation for good social order amid social and political change, and a new emphasis on sex crimes as a danger to the most vulnerable members of society, namely children.
AB - The Hong Kong government recently introduced a sex offender registry that gives the public access to records of sexual offence conviction. This step was taken in the context of a penal system that traditionally places a high value on rehabilitation and a culture that traditionally supports rape myths. This study explores public attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese towards a variety of sex offending policies and the variables, particularly stereotypical views of offenders, which may influence them. Overall, support was expressed for policies that sought to manage the risk posed by sex offenders. This shift is explained by the emergence of a fear of sex offenders as Hong Kong tries to maintain its reputation for good social order amid social and political change, and a new emphasis on sex crimes as a danger to the most vulnerable members of society, namely children.
KW - Chinese
KW - new penology
KW - public opinion
KW - sex offender registry
KW - sex offenders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921047382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1462474514561712
DO - 10.1177/1462474514561712
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84921047382
SN - 1462-4745
VL - 17
SP - 94
EP - 113
JO - Punishment and Society
JF - Punishment and Society
IS - 1
ER -
