Sources of judicial attitudes toward criminal sanctioning

Through a 1979 survey of 89 Illinois judges, the present study attempts to assess how various social, political, and occupational factors influence judicial attitudes toward criminal sanctioning. Specifically, our analysis examined the relative impact of background characteristics (e.g. age, community context) versus occupational variables (e.g., years on the bench, former prosecutor and/or defense attorney) on five sanctioning scales: rehabilitation, punishment, capital punishment, punishing white-collar offenders, and the treatment of juvenile delinquents. The analysis revealed that political orientation was the most important variable examined. Political ideology was found to be related to all but one of the sanctioning scales (punishing white-collar offenders). In contrast, the social and occupational variables generally were not significantly related to judicial attitudes on the purposes of sentencing.     

The enduring racial divide in death penalty support

One of the more enduring observations in the study of death penalty support within the United States is the strong divide between Whites and Blacks. Whites show significantly higher levels of support for capital punishment than Blacks. This divide between Whites and Blacks appeared in all surveys, over time, and across a variety of methodological designs. Using data from three separate studies (two local surveys of venirepersons and the NORC-General Social Surveys), this study attempted to understand the basis for this divide. It examined racial differences in socioeconomic status, religion/religiosity, political ideology, positions on right-to-life and other social issues, fear of crime and victimization experience, experience with the criminal justice system, philosophies of punishment, and attribution styles. The findings revealed that the effect of race/ethnicity on capital punishment support continued to hold while controlling for the effects of nearly all of these “explanations.”     

A Special Youth Sanction

Under the label ‘youth sanction’ (ungdomssanktion) a new type of sentence for juvenile offenders has been enacted by a 2001 amendment to the Danish Penal Code. The study reported here is an analysis of the 55 sentences imposed over the first year. Widespread disparity and disproportionality in sentencing was found. Statutory requirements regarding the seriousness of the individual case have not in all instances been satisfactorily established. The emergence of the new sanction implies a considerable increase in the intensity of intervention. Being based on a revitalized treatment ideology, the new criminal sanction legitimizes a vast widening of the control measures directed against troubled youth, in particular such offenders who has another ethnic background than Danish. No comprehensive programme or coherent vision regarding treatment methods has been stipulated, and professionals are bewildered and in disagreement regarding such issues. Nothing indicates that the costly efforts will prove to be adequate as rehabilitative and crime preventive tools. The introduction of the youth sanction is part of a contemporary criminal policy agenda dominated by a broad political coalition with an urge to demonstrate ability and readiness to cope with juvenile street crime by employing more ‘consequent’ measures, involving tougher and swifter punishment combined with coerced rehabilitation.     

The gender gap in death penalty support: An exploratory study

One of the more enduring observations in the study of death penalty support within the United States is the strong divide between males and females. Men have consistently shown significantly higher levels of support for capital punishment than women. This divide between males and females has appeared in nearly every survey, over time, and across a variety of methodological designs. Using data from the cumulative (1972-2002) data file for the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) General Social Surveys, this study attempted to understand the basis for this gender gap. It examined gender differences in socioeconomic status, gender inequality, gender socialization, religion/religiosity, political ideology, positions on right-to-life and other social issues, fear of crime and victimization experience, experience with the criminal justice system, philosophies of punishment, and attribution styles. The findings revealed that the effect of gender on capital punishment support continued to be robust despite controlling for the effects of all of these explanations.     

An attributional examination of retributive versus utilitarian philosophies of punishment

Two basic goals of punishment—retribution and utility—and the means to those goals, including isolation, rehabilitation, and the creation of fear, were first examined. The objectives of punishment were then related to attributions regarding the cause of a transgression. It was documented that punishment goals are mediated by the expectancies and affects that are elicited by causal beliefs. It also was argued that the purposes of punishment are more state-like than trait-like, for they change as a function of the reason for a transgression. Data from three laboratory experiments, as well as a field study regarding reactions to O. J. Simpson for his alleged crimes, were presented in support of the above beliefs. In addition, the morality of retribution versus utilitarianism was discussed in the context of the caning of Michael Fay in Singapore. It is suggested that rehabilitation may be the most moral of the punishment means.     

死刑:一种残酷的刑罚

残酷刑罚是不尊重罪犯尊严和人格,或者剥夺或限制罪犯不应剥夺或限制的权利,或者无助于实现使罪犯成为新人要求的,或者造成罪犯肉体或精神上极度痛苦的不必要的刑罚。残酷刑罚的认定有绝对性和相对性两个标准。无论从绝对性还是相对性标准看,死刑都是一种残酷的刑罚。     

The correctional orientation of community corrections: Legislative changes in the legally prescribed functions of community corrections 1992–2002

Over the years, the prevailing correctional orientation in the United States has shifted back and forth between punishment and rehabilitation. These changes in correctional ideology are typically marked by differing sentencing practices and changing criminal justice research agendas. On the other hand, how corrections is legally mandated to operate is less understood. In 1993, Johnson, Dunaway, Burton, Marquait, and Cuvelier assessed the legally prescribed functions of community corrections for all 50 states and classified them as either reform or control oriented functions. They concluded the majority of states were primarily reform oriented. In this study, we replicate Johnson et al.’s (1993) methods using the statutes from all 50 states in 2002. However, we classified our findings, as well as recoded Johnson et al.’s (1993) findings, into punishment or rehabilitation functions. We make comparisons between 1992 and 2002 for the purpose of assessing where legally mandated orientation of community corrections stands today on the punishment/rehabilitation debate.     

The Impact of Punishment and Rehabilitation Views on Organizational Commitment Among Correctional Staff: A Preliminary Study

It has been long recognized that organizational commitment is an important component of effective organizations. It has, however, received relatively little attention in the correctional literature. Furthermore, much of the research to date on correctional orientation has focused on examining how various forces affect the punishment and rehabilitation views of correctional employees, but ignored how these views affect employees’ organizational commitment. Using a data set collected from 272 staff members at a Midwestern, high security state prison, this study examined the impact of punishment and rehabilitation views on organizational commitment. It was found that support for rehabilitation was associated with higher levels of organizational commitment while support for punishment was related with lower levels of organizational commitment.     

Perceived Criminal Threat from Undocumented Immigrants: Antecedents and Consequences for Policy Preferences

Drawing on the group threat perspective, this paper examines the perception of criminal threat from undocumented immigrants and its relation to both contextual measures of threat and public support for enhanced controls against undocumented immigrants. With data from a national telephone survey of non-Latino adults (N?=?1,364), we estimate the predictors of perceived criminal threat as well as the effects of perceived threat and other factors on immigration policy preferences. Results indicate that political ideology and education are the strongest predictors of perceived criminal threat. Perceived criminal threat has the greatest influence on support for more punitive controls and partially mediates the effects of race, education, political ideology, and contextual threat on these control preferences. Future social threat research should consider the inclusion of perceptual threat measures instead of relying solely on contextual indicators of threat. In addition, contextual threat should be explored more often in dynamic, rather than static, terms.     

‘Punishment’ in Non-custodial Sentences: A Critical Analysis

This paper reviews various uses of the concept of ‘punishment’ in relation to non-custodial sentences, including the frequently-made comparison between ‘punishment’ and ‘rehabilitation’. It concludes that ‘punishment’ has no stable meaning in respect of such sentences and, when utilised, often results in non-custodial penalties being found wanting by comparison with imprisonment. It is suggested that all sentences should be regarded as ‘punishments’, and that the creative development of community penalties will best be achieved by working with a threefold conceptualisation of reparation, rehabilitation and incapacitation, set within appropriate boundaries of proportionality.     

Explaining Capital Punishment Support in an Abolitionist Country: The Case of the Netherlands

A substantial minority (35%) of the Dutch population is in favor of capital punishment. In this paper, it is argued that in a staunchly abolitionist country such as The Netherlands, the existence and perseverance of such support can be better understood and explained by conceiving of capital punishment support in attitudinal terms as part of a law and order syndrome. Death penalty attitudes are analyzed by means of hierarchic logistic regression analysis. It is shown that support can be modeled quite well, partly in terms of general attitudes to criminal justice, partly in terms of political and sociodemographic parameters. Within the criminal justice attitudes complex, more support is found among those endorsing harsh treatment of offenders, those willing to grant far-reaching powers to justice authorities, those believing that the government is not delivering on the topic of crime fighting, and those who are concerned about the level of crime. Within the political context, more support is enlisted among people who abstain from voting and those who vote at either extreme of the political spectrum as opposed to central parties' supporters. In sociodemographic segments it is the younger and poorly educated who are the strongest supporters of capital punishment. It is suggested that endorsing capital punishment can be better understood as an expressive act, displaying dissatisfaction with judicial and political elites in the country.     

Opinions about child corporal punishment and influencing factors

The use of corporal punishment has been linked to negative developmental outcomes for children. Despite this finding, Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code permits the use of corporal punishment by parents for children 2 to 12 years of age. Therefore, this study's first objective is to investigate opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The second objective is to investigate predictors of opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The sample consists of 818 nonparents (70.7% female, 29.0% male) who completed an online study. Results indicate that 38.6% were favorable toward upholding Section 43. However, this decreases to 25.8% when a condition is included, stating that parents would not be prosecuted for mild slaps or spankings. For attitudes toward spanking more generally, results reveal that 16.7% of the participants held favorable attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that planning to use corporal punishment upon becoming a parent predicted having a more favorable attitude toward Section 43 as well as toward spanking more generally (after controlling for sociodemographics). In contrast, having experienced violence during one's childhood predicts having less favorable attitudes toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. Significant interactions are found between childhood experiences of corporal punishment and perceptions of parental warmth/support and impulsiveness during discipline in predicting attitudes toward spanking. Those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood but also more parental warmth/support hold more favorable attitudes toward spanking and those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood and also more parental impulsiveness hold less favorable attitudes toward spanking. Findings indicate that examining opinions toward Section 43 and spanking separately is important because these concepts are not synonymous. In addition, both more immediate factors and those related to one's developmental history play a role in predicting opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally.     

The Effects of Tenure on Staff Apathy and Treatment Orientation: A Comparison of Respondent Characteristics and Environmental Factors

Because inmate rehabilitation efforts are influenced by prison staff, Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections recently began collecting survey data from corrections staff about their attitudes and beliefs for treatment programming. The present analysis focused on staff tenure, or length of time employed in a corrections field, and its effects on support for inmate rehabilitation. Overall, findings from bivariate analyses clearly showed that staff with 16 years or more of service expressed less apathy and demonstrated a treatment orientation perspective toward inmate rehabilitation. Findings from multivariate analyses showed that respondent characteristics including tenure and job category were stronger predictors of staff apathy and a treatment orientation perspective than were environmental factors associated with the prisons. Policy implications will be discussed.     

Death penalty politics and symbolic law in Russia

In contemporary Russia there is widespread support for the death penalty. Recent Russian presidents have endorsed the nation’s entry into the European Community (EC). The dilemma is that the price of membership into the EC is total abolition of capital punishment. The Russian Duma is much less popular than the president, even though it sides with public opinion in supporting capital punishment. Since 1997, these conflicting political positions have been temporarily neutralized by leaving capital punishment legislation in place but allowing the Russian president to offer clemency to all sentenced to death. In 1999, the Constitutional Court of Russia placed a moratorium on all death sentences until jury trials are re-introduced throughout the nation.     

Gender Differences in PTSD in Israeli Youth Exposed to Terror Attacks

Differences between boys' and girls' exposure to terror and posttraumatic symptoms were examined in a sample of 2,999 Israeli adolescents. Gender differences were also assessed regarding perceived social support, religious beliefs, and ideological commitment. Results indicate that girls reported more posttraumatic symptoms than boys, although boys reported twice the rate of very severe symptoms. Differences were also found between boys and girls in levels of fear, religiosity, ideological commitment, and social support, but not regarding exposure. Path analysis revealed that gender is not a direct predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, it does have an indirect effect, especially through fear, which was the best predictor of PTSD. Social extrinsic religiosity and ideological intolerance were positive predictors of PTSD. The study concludes that gender differences in PTSD are largely the result of differences in levels of fear and are not due to differences in political ideology, religiosity, or social support.     

Political Orientation and Ideological Inconsistencies: (Dis)comfort with Value Tradeoffs

People are often inconsistent in the way they apply their values to their political beliefs (e.g., citing the value of life in opposing capital punishment while simultaneously supporting abortion rights). How do people confront such inconsistencies? Liberals were more likely to say that issues that could draw on several competing values were complex issues that required value tradeoffs, whereas conservatives were more likely to deny the comparability of the issues. We argue that this difference is rooted in the distinct ways that liberals and conservatives represent political issues. Additional evidence suggested that conservatives’ higher need for closure leads them to represent issues in terms of salient, accessible values. Although this may lead conservatives’ attitudes to be more situationally malleable under some circumstances, such shifts do serve to protect an absolutist approach to one’s moral values and help conservatives to deny the comparability of potentially inconsistent positions.     

Prescriptions for punishment: Official ideologies and jall overcrowding

This study assesses key actors’ “worlds of fact” regarding jail overcrowding in California through an examination of their perceptions of causes and effects, support for different solutions, and adherence to major punishment ideologies. How policymakers define and structure a specific problem Gail overcrowding), can influence how policy options are differentially weighed as well as how existing policy processes can be improved. A mail survey was sent to two key decision making groups who largely regulate the intake and outflow of local jails: sheriffs and chief probation officers of the 58 California counties. Group differences in responses were predicted from the perspectives of blame avoidance, domain dissensus, and punishment theory. Relationships were examined among perceived causes, effects, solutions, and punishment ideologies. While both sheriffs and probation chiefs advocated highly similar “control-oriented” punishment ideologies, probation chiefs advocated more “progressive” solutions to jail overcrowding. Perceived causes and effects of jail overcrowding, along with support for deterrence ideology, were strongly related to elite support for three potential solutions: building more institutions, passing tougher laws to deter potential offenders, and using shorter sentences for low-risk offenders. Implications of these results for understanding jail overcrowding and policy processes are discussed.     

College Students’ Punishment Perceptions of Online Solicitation of Children for Sex

The present study addresses the perceptions of university students regarding punishments for individuals whom engage in the online solicitation of children for sex. Differences in biological sex and age of victim and sex of offender may influence university students’ views of punishment for this behavior. Using self-reports from a 2?×?2?×?2 factorial survey, the results indicate that respondent sex, political ideology, and offender sex are important factors in explaining punitiveness for engaging in the online solicitation of a child for sex. Interestingly, victim age was shown to not influence punitive perceptions of online solicitation of children for sex. These results are discussed in the context of policy implications.     

Justifying violence: legitimacy,ideology and public support for police use of force

Under what conditions do people support police use of force? In this paper we assess some of the empirical links between police legitimacy, political ideology (right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), and support for ‘reasonable’ use of force (e.g. an officer striking a citizen in self-defence) and ‘excessive’ use of force (e.g. an officer using violence to arrest an unarmed person who is not offering violent resistance). Analysing data from an online survey with US participants (n?=?186) we find that legitimacy is a positive predictor of reasonable but not excessive police use of force, and that political ideology predicts support for excessive but not reasonable use of force. We conclude with the idea that legitimacy places normative constraints around police power. On the one hand, legitimacy is associated with increased support for the use of force, but only when violence is bounded within certain acceptable limits. On the other hand, excessive use of force seems to require an extra-legal justification that is – at least in our analysis – partly ideological. Our findings open up a new direction of research in what is currently a rather sparse psychological literature on the ability of legitimacy to ‘tame’ coercive power.     

Political Expertise, Social Worldviews, and Ideology: Translating “Competitive Jungles” and “Dangerous Worlds” into Ideological Reality

The psychological bases of ideology have received renewed attention amid growing political polarization. Nevertheless, little research has examined how one’s understanding of political ideas might moderate the relationship between “pre-political” psychological variables and ideology. In this paper, we fill this gap by exploring how expertise influences citizens’ ability to select ideological orientations that match their psychologically rooted worldviews. We find that expertise strengthens the relationship between two basic social worldviews—competitive-jungle beliefs and dangerous-world beliefs and left–right self-placement. Moreover, expertise strengthens these relationships by boosting the impact of the worldviews on two intervening ideological attitude systems—social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism. These results go beyond previous work on expertise and ideology, suggesting that expertise strengthens not only relationships between explicitly political attitudes but also the relationship between political attitudes and their psychological antecedents.