Sexual offences : public perception regarding sentences given to sexual offenders

Abstract

This research is an attempt at identifying the perception of the Maltese population regarding sexual offenders, especially paedophiles and child molesters, and the sentences given to them. This thesis starts with a short introduction, followed by the literature review, where the theoretical perspective is explained. Then an explanation of the method, used to get the results is explained. After the methodology chapter the results and discussion of the finding are presented, followed by the conclusion. The hypothesis of the study aimed at testing if the Maltese society were punitive or nonpunitive towards sexual offenders. To find this out, a quantitative research method was chosen; people were chosen randomly and those who accepted where given a questionnaire to fill out, the ages of the people that could answer the questionnaire was that from 18 to 65 years. When all the questionnaires (100) were filled, the software SPSS 19 was used to analyse the frequency of the answers chosen for a particular question. From the results obtained it was found out, that indeed, the Maltese population are punitive towards sex offenders, and that they would prefer these offenders to get more than just a prison sentence.