# Development of the Attitudes Toward Partners of People Who Have Sexually Offended Questionnaire

## TL;DR

This study develops a new questionnaire to measure attitudes toward partners of people who have sexually offended, revealing four key dimensions of these attitudes.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is the creation of a validated questionnaire capturing attitudes toward non-offending partners in sexual offenses.

## Key findings

- The questionnaire identified four dimensions of attitudes: relationship decision-making judgments, behavioral intent, general judgment, and shaming.
- Professionals in criminal justice and social services showed more favorable attitudes than the general public.
- Negative attitudes predicted intent to discriminate but not aggression toward non-offending partners.

## Abstract

Non-offending partners of those who have sexually offended face severe negative consequences in the aftermath of an offense, many of which are directly linked to their negative interactions with others—including intervening agencies. Despite this, the only available measure of attitudes toward non-offending partners has several shortcomings and, as a result, attitudes toward non-offending partners are underexamined. The current research aimed to address this issue by using the input of Criminal Justice System-adjacent professionals, non-offending partners, and the general public to create a scale measuring Attitudes toward Partners of People who had Sexually Offended. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that attitudes toward non-offending partners had four underlying dimensions: (1) Judgement of non-offending partners’ relationship decision-making, (2) behavioral intent toward non-offending partners, (3) judgement of non-offending, and (4) shaming of non-offending partners. Subsequent studies validated the scale using confirmatory factor analysis, psychometric evaluations, and construct and criterion-related validity assessments. Here, we also found that professionals working for the police and social services held more favorable attitudes toward non-offending partners (i.e., score lower on the measure), than a general population sample, and that negative attitudes toward non-offending partners predicted intent to discriminate—but not behavioral aggression—toward this group. These findings are discussed, alongside the limitations of this research, in light of their implications and while considering avenues for future research.