Citation

Payne BK, Gainey RR, Triplett RA, Danner MJE. J. Crim. Justice 2004; 32(3): 195-206.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2004.02.007

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Punitive attitudes of the general public were the focus of a considerable amount of research. Much of the work focused on the demographic correlates of punitive attitudes and only a limited amount of research focused on how punitive attitudes were justified. That is, what does the public want to get out of punishing criminal offenders? In this research, how a sample of Virginia residents recommended sanctioning five different offenses was examined. Multivariate models were used to assess the relationships between demographic and ideological orientations, punishment justifications, and punitive attitudes. Finally, separate models were estimated for males and females, and African Americans and Whites to explore whether these factors operated differently across groups. The results suggested that in comparison to demographic factors, justifications were relatively strongly linked to punitive attitudes. These effects were similar across subgroups, but there was an interaction suggesting that the relationship between general deterrence and punitive attitudes varied across gender and race. Implications of the study are discussed.