Moral Value Structure of Laborers and Penitentiary Inmates: A Research Note

Abstract

A questionnaire containing 50 moral values items was administered to white marginally middle-class laborers, white penitentiary inmates, and Negro penitentiary inmates. A comparison of the responses of the white laborers and the white penitentiary inmates revealed significant differences on 26 of 50 items, with the laborers presenting a more condemning or more “conservative” judgment on nearly all moral values items. A comparison of the white and Negro convicts revealed significant differences on eight of 50 items. On moral values or ethical judgments about behavior, it appears that differing social class subcultures and/or criminal-noncriminal subcultures produce greater divergence than do differing racial groups.