Objective: This research examines how neutralization techniques influence third-party judgments in situations of coercive control, focusing on perpetrator exoneration, victim-blaming, and minimization of behavior. Method: Across two studies, participants read the testimony of a victim describing coercive control by her partner. In Study 1 (N = 561), they were then assigned to conditions in which the perpetrator either denied responsibility or denied the behavior, compared to a control condition (victim testimony only). In Study 2 (N = 397), all participants were exposed to a perpetrator's testimony, which was either nonneutralizing, denied responsibility, denied behavior, or combined both strategies. Results: Neutralization techniques significantly influenced third-party evaluations by increasing the exoneration of the perpetrator and minimizing the perpetrator's behavior. Denial of responsibility had a broader and stronger impact than denial of behavior, but both forms of denial reduced approval of sanctions against the perpetrator. Myths about domestic violence did not show a moderating effect. Conclusions: Our research provides new insights into how neutralization techniques operate in the context of coercive control. Although our findings do not reveal a reversal in favor of the perpetrator, they do point to the risk of increased passivity in the face of allegations when neutralizing discourse is employed. These results highlight the need to recognize coercive control as a framework that captures power dynamics, enabling clearer distinctions between the victim's narrative and the perpetrator's justifications. Raising awareness of neutralization techniques and coercive control is crucial to reinforce institutional and societal responses and prevent secondary victimization.

Staff's representations of offenders are known to impact their interactions with the offenders they work with, but settings involving justice-involved youth remain understudied. This study addressed this research gap by using reflexive thematic analysis to explore French juvenile justice social workers' representations of justice-involved youth. Semi-structured interviews with 24 participants revealed a diversity of representations. Most participants saw youth offenders' adverse childhood experiences as mitigating factors in the acts committed and as justification for adopting a welfare-based approach to juvenile justice. We discuss the consequences of the lack of a shared rehabilitation model to guide youth justice interventions.

(1) Background: This study investigates the influence of social networks on young adults, focusing on both positive and negative impacts. It considers problematic social networking site use (PSNSU), emotional intelligence, empathy, and the phenomenon of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). (2) Methods: A comprehensive online survey was conducted with 442 participants aged 18 to 30 years that used various psychometric tools to assess emotional intelligence, empathy, internet and social media use, and FoMO. (3) Results: The study revealed that young adults display low competencies in emotional intelligence and empathy, with a tendency towards problematic internet and social media use. High FoMO scores were observed, correlating with negative internet use outcomes. Gender differences in these aspects were also explored. (4) Conclusions: The findings suggest a complex interaction between social network use, emotional skills, and FoMO that impacts young adults’ mental health and social behaviors. This study highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of these relationships and their implications for well-being and social interaction in the digital age.

Alors que les violences sexuelles constituent un probleme social majeur, la perception erronee des intentions sexuelles est un facteur de risque important. Toutefois, le manque de validite ecologique des operationnalisations disponibles pour etudier la perception des intentions sexuelles apparait comme une limite importante. L'objectif de cette etude etait de developper et de valider un ensemble de stimuli video pour repondre a cette limite. Pour ce faire, un travail important de developpement a ete realise avec des comediennes professionnelles afin de rendre compte d'intentions comportementales selon une valence positive (c.-a-d., un interet) ou negative (c.-a-d., une absence d'interet), exprimees a forte ou a faible intensite. Un interet porte a des dimensions de validite apparente et de validite convergente a permis de retenir 17 stimuli video, repartis dans quatre categories d'intentions sexuelles mutuellement exclusives. En plus d'ameliorer la validite ecologique des operationnalisations disponibles, la banque de stimuli << Percept-Int >> peut etre utilisee dans differents pays et est en acces libre. Elle peut etre utilisee aussi bien pour des recherches en matiere de violences sexuelles que de maniere plus generale en psychologie afin de mieux comprendre le developpement de la perception des intentions sexuelles, dont le consentement. Sexual violence is a major social problem, and the misperception of sexual intent is an important risk factor. However, the lack of ecological validity for the operationalizations available to study the perception of sexual intent appears to be a significant limitation. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a collection of video stimuli to address this limitation. To achieve this, important developmental work was carried out with professional actors to account for behavioral intent according to a positive valence (i.e., some interest) or negative valence (i.e., an absence of interest) expressed at high or low intensity. With a focus on face validity and convergent validity, 17 video stimuli were selected and divided into four mutually exclusive categories of sexual intent. In addition to improving the ecological validity of the available operationalizations, the "Percept-Int" bank of stimuli can be used in different countries and is free to access. It can be used both for research on sexual violence and general research in psychology to better understand the development of the perception of sexual intent, including consent. Interet public Alors que la perception erronee des intentions sexuelles constitue un facteur de risque des violences sexuelles, cette etude a permis de developper et de valider un ensemble de stimuli video pour etudier la perception des intentions sexuelles. En plus d'ameliorer la validite ecologique des operationnalisations disponibles, la banque de stimuli << Percept-Int >> constitue, au meilleur de notre connaissance, les seuls stimuli video qui peuvent etre utilises dans differents pays et qui sont en acces libre.

Introduction. - North Africans immigrants in France are deval-ued and discriminated. Research suggests that the acculturation strategy they adopt impacts the way they are perceived on the stereotype content model's warmth and competence dimensions and the emotions and behavioral intentions they elicit (BIAS map model). Objective. - Considering that the warmth dimension consists of two sub-dimensions - sociability and morality - the present study explores how perceived morality influences the BIAS map's pre-dictions as a function of perceptions of acculturation. Method. - We randomly assigned 343 participants to one of four groups. Participants in each group read extracts from an interview with a male North African immigrant who expressed one of four acculturation strategies (integrationist, assimilationist, separationist, marginalist). They then expressed their perceptions of the immigrant (stereotypes) and the emotions and behavioral intentions he inspired. Results. - As hypothesized, the assimilationist target was attributed more sociability than the separationist and marginalist targets and less morality than the integrationist and separationist targets. Unexpectedly, participants expressed strong active facilitating behavioral intentions (help and protect) both toward the least moral target (assimilationist) and toward the most moral targets (integrationist and separationist). Conclusion. - First, considering morality in addition to sociability and competence can enrich the BIAS map model's predictive capability. Second, although host populations may perceive assimilationist and separationist acculturation strategies as differing in terms of morality, these different perceptions may lead to similar helping and protection behavioral intentions. Some explanations are suggested. (c) 2023 Societe Francaise de Psychologie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Many governments’ COVID-19 prevention messages highlighted individual accountability and the stigmatization of individuals who violate lockdown rules. The present study examined French people’s ( N = 567) attributions of humanness to and willingness to punish (i.e., whether the target deserved medical care, helping intentions toward the target) an individual who respected versus violated the rules of the country’s first (March to May) versus second (November to December) lockdowns. Participants attributed less humanness to and were more willing to punish the deviant target than the compliant target. These effects were stronger during the first lockdown than during the second lockdown. Perceived threat of COVID-19 to the national ingroup moderated these effects, and attributions of humanness mediated willingness to punish the target.

Adolescence is a key period in shaping later delinquency trajectories. Qualitative studies provide a valuable complement to quantitative research by clarifying young offenders’ perceptions of risk and protective factors for delinquency. The present systematic review addresses a gap in the literature by summarizing the findings of recent qualitative studies of young offenders’ narratives concerning their life experiences and their contacts with the juvenile justice system. It also provides an overview of the various methodologies the 39 included studies used to collect and analyze these narratives. Results show that young people are capable of expressing and giving meaning to their life experiences. Although they frequently mentioned violent family backgrounds and difficulties in understanding criminal procedures as influencing their delinquent behaviors, they had varying opinions about the impact of substance abuse on these behaviors. This synthesis of research into young offenders’ perceptions of their experiences highlights the need to take into account these perceptions when designing interventions aimed at understanding, preventing, and responding to youth delinquency.

Cette étude porte sur le traitement de l'information chez des auteurs de violence sexuelle (AVS) sur mineurs à la fois sur le plan cognitif, avec les distorsions cognitives, et sur le plan émotionnel, avec l'alexithymie.La recherche a été menée sur 20 hommes auteurs de violence sexuelle sur mineurs.Un questionnaire autorapporté a servi à mesurer l'alexithymie et les distorsions cognitives.Les résultats soulignent des niveaux élevés d'alexithymie et de distorsions cognitives.Les AVS en milieu fermé ont un score significativement plus élevé sur le facteur émotionnel de l'alexithymie que les AVS en milieu ouvert.Les données semblent indiquer des déficits dans le traitement de l'information sociale chez les AVS sur mineurs.Cette étude souligne l'importance d'adapter l'offre de soins en fonction des déficits, mais également du lieu de prise en charge et des ressources des patients.

The present study examined whether people with high SDO modify their conception of laicite (French secularism) when judging public expressions of religious beliefs (street prayers) by France's majority (Catholics) or minority (Muslims) religious group. Participants with high SDO saw street prayer as deviating more from French values when the people praying were Muslims but were more likely to view public expressions of religious beliefs as compatible with laicite when those praying were Catholics. SDO and religion also had indirect effects, via compatibility of public expressions of beliefs with laicite, on perceptions of deviation from laicite and normative pressure.

Many governments' COVID-19 prevention messages highlighted individual accountability and the stigmatization of individuals who violate lockdown rules. The present study examined French people's (N = 567) attributions of humanness to and willingness to punish (i.e., whether the target deserved medical care, helping intentions toward the target) an individual who respected versus violated the rules of the country's first (March to May) versus second (November to December) lockdowns. Participants attributed less humanness to and were more willing to punish the deviant target than the compliant target. These effects were stronger during the first lockdown than during the second lockdown. Perceived threat of COVID-19 to the national ingroup moderated these effects, and attributions of humanness mediated willingness to punish the target.

Abstract. Many governments’ COVID-19 prevention messages highlighted individual accountability and the stigmatization of individuals who violate lockdown rules. The present study examined French people’s ( N = 567) attributions of humanness to and willingness to punish (i.e., whether the target deserved medical care, helping intentions toward the target) an individual who respected versus violated the rules of the country’s first (March to May) versus second (November to December) lockdowns. Participants attributed less humanness to and were more willing to punish the deviant target than the compliant target. These effects were stronger during the first lockdown than during the second lockdown. Perceived threat of COVID-19 to the national ingroup moderated these effects, and attributions of humanness mediated willingness to punish the target.

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether being shown a testimony alleging that the perpetrator of a crime was influenced by an accomplice has an impact on the severity of the sentence given to this accomplice. Design/methodology/approach A total of 119 participants read the summary of a case of armed robbery. Two experimental conditions were adopted: the presence of a testimony suggesting the accomplice’s influence on the perpetrator in committing the crime (versus no testimony). The participants were then asked what sentence they would give the accomplice and what sentence they would have given the perpetrator of the crime, who had in fact already been sentenced. The participants rated items relating to the explanation for the crime (perception that the perpetrator had been manipulated by the presumed accomplice) and to the presumed accomplice’s intent to commit the crime. Findings The participants showed themselves to be harsher towards the presumed accomplice when they were shown the testimony about his influence, which reduced the disparity with the sentence they would have given to the perpetrator of the crime. Analyses of mediation show that the participants shown the testimony (as opposed to those who were not) were more likely to say that the presumed accomplice manipulated the perpetrator of the crime, leading them to be more likely to attribute to the accomplice the intent to commit the crime and to be harsher towards him. Originality/value The results of this research are discussed with a focus on naïve interpretations of influence in the very specific context of legal adjudication.

Desecration of national symbols is a recurring societal phenomenon that can lead to highly defensive reactions from some citizens, especially on the part of those expressing a strong attachment to the nation. In this paper, we investigated the effects of blind and constructive patriotism when faced with an ingroup (vs. outgroup) national flag burning on ingroup bias, taking into consideration the mediating role of perceived threat. In two studies (N = 252), the level of blind patriotism predicted stronger ingroup bias—due to more negative evaluation of visible minorities and/or more positive evaluation of the ingroup—when another ingroup member burnt an ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag. This effect was partly mediated by a greater threat to the group’s image perceived by blindly patriotic people when the ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag was burnt (Study 2). Study 2 also highlighted a main effect of the symbol: ingroup bias was stronger when the ingroup (vs. outgroup) flag was burnt. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to the role played by modes of national attachment and the consequences of desecrating symbols.

In European countries, a large number of people feel that Islam is incompatible with secularism. France's legal principle of laicite (a type of state "secularism") has governed the relationship between religion and society since 1905. However, recent research suggests that there coexist two distinct lay conceptions of laicite that differ most notably in their tolerance for the presence of religious symbols in public places, one inclusive, the other restrictive. This latter conception appears to target mainly Muslims. The present research examined the lay conceptions of laicite held by Catholics, Muslims, and nonbelievers. Analyses of participants' responses (N = 375) to a scale measuring lay beliefs about laicite confirmed the existence of two distinct lay conceptions of laicite that differed in the importance given to public expression of religious beliefs, religious neutrality of the state, and equal treatment of different religions. The results also showed that, independent of participants' religiosity, the restrictive conception was more prevalent among nonbelievers, the two conceptions were equally prevalent among Catholics, and the inclusive conception was more prevalent among Muslims.

This research examined whether an individual's endorsement of punishment goals moderates and mediates the effect of a clinical assessment of recidivism risk on the length of prison sentences. We measured participants' endorsement of punishment goals, both before they read a criminal case (i.e. a priori endorsement), and after they had read it (i.e. case-specific endorsement). As expected, the effect of the clinical report's conclusion on participants' sentencing decisions was moderated by a priori endorsement of incapacitation as a punishment goal. Participants who expressed strong (versus weak) a priori endorsement of this punishment goal were influenced by the report's conclusion on the risk of recidivism. In addition, when the clinical report concluded that the offender had a high risk of recidivating, participants expressed greater case-specific motivation to incapacitate him. Finally, the clinical report's conclusion had an indirect effect on the severity of the sentence through case-specific endorsement of the incapacitation punishment goal.