Abstract:
A significant amount of research has aimed to determine attitudes towards sex offenders and treatment for sex offenders, especially for those involved in the criminal justice system. Researchers have utilized the Community Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders (CATSO) and Attitudes Towards the Treatment of Sex Offenders (ATTSO) scales to measure attitudes of many populations, including law enforcement, corrections officers, parole boards, as well as general communities. To this point, the attitudes of those most directly involved in the courtroom— lawyers and judges—have not been addressed. As future jurists, law students can provide some insight into these attitudes. This study will attempt to determine the attitudes of a group of law students from The University of Alabama, and see if those attitudes can be changed through education.
