03/18/2025
By Tsvetina Kamenova
The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, invites you to attend a Dissertation Defense: "Crime, punishment and redemption of ideological crime perpetrators: The role of gender, religion and race in public opinion."
Date: Friday, April 4
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
To receive the Zoom link, email Tsvetina_Kamenova@student.uml.edu or Yan_Wang1@uml.edu.
Committee:
Chair: Yan Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UMass Lowell
Arie Perliger, Ph.D., Professor, UMass Lowell
Jason Lawrence, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UMass Lowell
Abstract:
Ideological crimes like hate crime and terrorist acts are a serious issue affecting communities of people sharing demographic characteristics such as race, religion and gender. The people who perpetrate these crimes understandably generate punitive attitudes from the public. However, there is evidence to suggest that perpetrators are treated differently based on their demographic characteristics. Bias toward hate crime perpetrators can legitimize and reinforce the very biases espoused by hate rhetoric and may even contribute to the cycle of violence that hate crimes aim to perpetuate. This dissertation explores public perceptions of ideological crime perpetrators, focusing on how gender, race and religion influence judgments of guilt, punishment and redeemability. Using an experimental vignette design involving a foiled bombing, the study examines stereotypes related to hate crime and terrorism charges, an under-explored area in experimental research.