Perceptions of Legal and Extralegal Punishments for Sexual Harassment in the ‘MeToo’ Era

ABSTRACT

The current study investigates a sample of American university students’ (n = 304) perceptions of legal and extralegal punishments for Kevin Spacey, Matte Lauer, and Roy Moore in the initial days of the ‘MeToo’ movement. Specifically, we examine the impact of respondent gender to determine if the ‘MeToo’ movement has changed the discrepancy in perceived seriousness between males and females. Being female and having knowledge of the allegations against the individual in each case significantly increased the odds of support for punishment. Findings are discussed in the cultural context of ‘MeToo.’

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Nicole Leeper Piquero for her assistance on the survey development.

Notes

¹ All models were estimated using dichotomous measures of each social media account and there was no difference in outcomes in any of these models. Therefore, the count of all social media accounts was included in the final model as this is a more comprehensive measure.

² All models were estimated using three dichotomous measures of race including white/nonwhite, black/nonblack, and Hispanic/non-Hispanic. Race was not significant in any of the models including dichotomous measures of white/nonwhite, black/nonblack, and Hispanic/non-Hispanic. Race was not significant in any of the models.

³ Multicollinearity was determined to be non-problematic as all bivariate correlation coefficients were less than 0.3 and VIF statistics were less than 2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brooke Nodeland

Brooke Nodeland is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests include cyber offending and victimization, victimology, and public opinion. Some of her recent work has been published in Crime & Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, and Criminal Justice Review.

Jessica Craig

Jessica Craig is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas. She received Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Craig’s research interests include investigating crime over the life course and how childhood trauma impacts offending. Her other research projects have centered on juvenile justice, testing criminological theories, and the use of advanced research methodologies. Some of her recent work has been published in Journal of Criminal Justice, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, Crime & Delinquency, and Deviant Behavior.