Scholarly Commons

Perception of Common and Uncommon Crimes on a College Campus

This study examined the differences between crime typicality and seriousness ratings for offenses on college campuses. Participants were 74 undergraduate students at a private, liberal arts university. Eight scenarios describing various offenses were created, four of which were common on campus, and four that were not common. The typical scenarios included: underage drinking, use of marijuana, use of false identification, and plagiarism. Scenarios that were not common on campus included: stalking, burglary, use of prescription drugs, and vandalism. Participants rated each scenario on a 7-point Likert scale based on seriousness, how wrong the crime was, and typicality. Gender and personality differences, with a focus on entitlement, was also taken into consideration. Results found that perception can mainly be affected by gender, past involvement in similar crimes, graduation year, entitlement, and typicality.