Japanese public opinion on reporting the real names of juvenile criminals: An examination from the perspective of justification preferences

Abstract

PurposeThis study examined Japanese citizens’ attitudes toward disclosing juvenile offenders’ real names in terms of justification preferences, which are strongly related to attitudes toward punishment and justice. MethodsA total of 1,207 citizens participated in an online survey. A multiple regression analysis was conducted with attitudes toward revealing real names as the dependent variable and preferences for justification, beliefs about juvenile offenders, perceptions of delinquency, and demographic variables as the independent variables. ResultsThe preference for rehabilitation predicted disapproval, while general deterrence and incapacitation predicted support for reporting real names. This suggests that the fear of hindering rehabilitation leads people to reject reporting real names, while the idea that it is important for deterring crime leads people to support it. Symbolic discrimination against juvenile offenders was also suggested as a reason for supporting the reporting of real names in conjunction with beliefs about juvenile offenders. ConclusionsThe results can be seen as an expression of the penal populism that has emerged in Japan in recent years. The paper also discusses a hybrid measure of preference for justification used in the present study.