Punitive Attitudes Research Articles

Crime, crime control and criminology in Germany

This article provides an overview of the situation of crime, crime control and criminology in Germany. Official crime data, victimization studies and self-reported delinquency studies consistently indicate that crime rates have been rather low in recent years, and that the amount of crime has decreased in recent years with respect to violent as well as most non-violent offences. In contrast, increasing right-wing extremist violence and Islamist terrorism are a cause for concern. After a long decline, fear of crime has recently started to increase again for certain offences such as burglary. An increase in punitive attitudes or punishment styles cannot generally be observed, and the prison rate is comparatively low. The situation of criminology in Germany is ambivalent: on the one hand, promising research is being conducted; on the other hand, the implementation of criminology within universities has been cut back.

Tax evasion and welfare fraud: do punishments fit the crime or the perception of the crime?

PurposeIndividuals with fewer resources often receive more punitive treatment in the justice system than those who are more privileged. This situation is frequently justified with reference to societal preferences. To test the accuracy of this justification, the purpose of this study is to report on the extent to which the different treatments of tax evaders and welfare fraudsters in the Australian and New Zealand justice systems reflect the views of these societies.Design/methodology/approachAttitudes are captured in a survey with 3,000 respondents in Australia and New Zealand.FindingsWhen asked directly, the majority of respondents (58 per cent) perceive no difference in people committing welfare fraud or tax evasion. However, responses to presented scenarios on tax evasion and welfare fraud show different tolerances for each crime. When provided with scenarios including crimes and criminals, results show that survey respondents see tax evasion as a less serious crime. However, when asked about their own propensity to commit the same offence, respondents indicate that they are more likely to engage in welfare fraud than tax evasion. The authors also report on factors that have an impact on individual’s attitudes towards tax evasion and welfare fraud.Social implicationsThe survey results do not clearly show more punitive attitudes towards tax evasion or welfare fraud. Thus, the authors do not find support for the suggestion that the harsher treatment of welfare fraud can be justified with reference to society’s views.Originality/valueThe study reports on original survey research.

Maternal understanding of child discipline and maltreatment in the United States, South Korea, and Japan

The purpose of this study is to examine American, Korean, and Japanese mothers' perceptions of maltreatment, and the factors influencing those perceptions in the context of general parenting and discipline. Through a cross-cultural comparative approach, we hope to identify potential universalities as well as cultural specific perceptions of parenting behaviors. For this purpose, a total of 153 mothers with a child aged 3 to 6years participated in the current study. Participants came from East Coast of the United States (N=48); Seoul, Korea (N=65); Japan (Tokyo and Saitama) (N=40). A modified version of a previously established questionnaire (Ahn, Park, & Lee, 1998) assessed mothers' attitudes toward multiple disciplinary behaviors. This questionnaire presented 17 specific vignettes describing disciplinary scenarios that could occur while disciplining children in everyday life, some of which could be perceived as physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Results of the study suggest significant differences between groups in terms of maternal perceptions of maltreatment and the factors influencing maternal perceptions. American mothers reported the highest mean score among the three countries in perceiving discipline centered on corporal punishment as physical abuse. Korean mothers displayed a dual attitude of perceiving the scenario as maltreatment, but also rating it as likely to occur in everyday life. Japanese mothers showed the most permissive attitude toward harsh parental behaviors among the three countries on the grounds that they considered a strict and punitive attitude as a method of discipline. Overall, mothers of all three countries had the lowest scores for perceiving the vignette corresponding to neglect as maltreatment.

Determinants of Punitive Attitudes Toward People with Pedophilia: Dissecting Effects of the Label and Intentionality Ascriptions.

Recent research has established marked punitive attitudes against people sexually interested in children. These negative attitudes are even more pronounced when such sexual interest is labeled as pedophilia, but are attenuated to the extent that such sexual interest is perceived as beyond one's own control (unintentional). We explored these effects in more detail by separately manipulating the label (pedophiles vs. people with sexual interest in prepubescent children) and degree of intentionality (pedophilia or sexual desire as malleable vs. not malleable). Participants recruited via an online platform (N=423) were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions and asked to rate degree of intentionality, dangerousness, deviance, and punitive attitudes toward people sexually interested in children. As expected, participants expressed stronger punitive attitudes when the label was present. The manipulation of intentionality, however, was not successful. Further analyses explored whether participants found the notion that sexual interest cannot be altered at will more credible than the opposite, particularly in presence of the pedophilia label. The results are discussed with regard to the significance of and potential intervention against the markedly strong public stigma against people with pedophilia.

Empowering the Marginalized: The Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching Communication in a Women’s Detention Facility

Social justice can often be measured by how a society treats its incarcerated citizens. In a promising development, public opinion has evolved recently away from a punitive attitude toward criminal justice to one of rehabilitation and recovery. In turn, communication scholars are uniquely equipped to contribute to the process of reconstructing just discourses related to inmate rehabilitation. This pedological exploration takes a narrative approach to how instructors communicatively construct their experiences behind bars. Through the perspective of six volunteer instructors, we offer a unique glimpse into the complexities that can arise from teaching in incarceration settings. Our collective narratives revealed three primary themes: pedagogical paradox, connection seeking, and forward focus. Â

Can Molecular Genetic Evidence Influence Jurors’ Perceptions of a Defendant? Results From a Randomized Experiment

Despite increases in genetic evidence being used as mitigating or aggravating factors in criminal cases, few studies have examined whether evidence of a defendant’s genotype influences legal decision making of jurors. Using a randomized experiment, this study examined whether potential jurors’ legal decisions are affected when a defendant’s molecular genetic information is entered as mitigating evidence. Participants served as potential jurors from two universities ( N = 279). Results from multivariate regression models suggest that genetic evidence does not influence punitive attitudes toward a defendant. However, genetic evidence did have a statistically significant effect on fearfulness of the defendant. Participants assigned to the condition in which evidence of the defendant possesses genetic risk of criminality and a history of child abuse were the most fearful of the defendant. We conclude by describing how our findings are related to past research, and we also discuss implications of our study for future research.

How fear of crime affects punitive attitudes

This article investigates different types of fear of crime as predictors for punitive attitudes. Using data from a Germany-wide representative survey (n = 1272) it examines the reliability and validity of survey instruments through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain variations in the level of respondents’ punitive attitudes. The results show that different emotional and cognitive responses to crime have a distinctive effect on the formation of punitive attitudes. These effects vary significantly depending on socio-demographic factors and assumed purposes of punishment. A crucial observation of the study is that men’s fear of crime works in a different way in the formation of punitive attitudes than women’s fear of crime. The perceived locus of control for the crime threat is a possible explanation for this difference.

Predicting Punitive Attitudes: Racial-Animus towards New Immigrant and Aboriginal Minority Groups as a Mediating Agent upon Public Crime Concerns

<p class="APABody"><em>In English-speaking Western society’s punitive attitudes towards the sentencing of criminal offenders is a well-established phenomenon. Two theoretical models; the Crime-distrust model and Racial-animus model are demonstrated predictors of punitive attitudes. However, little is known about how racial prejudice impacts the association between the public’s crime concerns and their demand for harsher sentencing outcomes. The present study utilises online survey data obtained from a convenience sample of 566 Australian residents to examine the Racial-animus model as a mediating agent upon the Crime-distrust model and its relationship with punitive attitudes. A significant indirect effect of racial animus is demonstrated upon the perception of increasing crime rates and public confidence in the court system and punitive attitudes, regardless of whether animus is towards new-immigrants or Indigenous Australians. A significant indirect relationship between fear of crime and the demand for harsher sentencing is only demonstrated through negative perceptions of new immigrants. Results lend support for a mediation model whereby the indirect effect of fear of crime is significant when mediated by negative sentiment towards new-immigrants but not towards Indigenous Australians. Future research using a representative sample of the Australian population is indicated to increase the confidence with which findings are interpreted.</em></p><p class="APABody"><span><br /></span></p>

Moral Foundations, Intuitions of Justice, and the Intricacies of Punitive Sentiment

Research on punitive attitudes has, so far, focused largely on people's retributive attitudes toward offenders. However, a large theoretical body of research indicates that concerns about different types of offenses and victims may be just as important in structuring punitive attitudes. Particularly, Moral Foundations Theory suggests that distinct punitive attitudes may be based in intuitive moral concerns (“moral foundations”) about offenses that victimize individuals, groups, and the “divine,” referring to bodily purity or sanctity. In this study, I develop measures of what I term “victim-centered punitiveness,” and use data from a nationwide survey of adult Americans (N = 915) to compare the sources of offender- and victim-centered punitiveness. As expected, different moral foundations shape offender- and victim-centered punitiveness in different ways, suggesting that they have distinct intuitive, moral bases. Other factors, including racial resentment, also have distinct effects on each type of punitiveness.

Factors behind support for harsher punishments for common and uncommon offenders

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore individual factors predicting support for harsher punishments for relatively common and uncommon serious offenders.Design/methodology/approachIn Study 1, 120 UK participants (60 males and 60 females; mean age =37.31 SD=16.74) completed a survey exploring the extent to which they supported harsher punishments (SHP) for first time and repeat fraud, sexual and violent offenders. In Study 2, 131 participants (70 Britons and 61 Singaporeans; 69 females and 62 males; mean age=31.57; SD=10.87) completed a similar survey exploring their support for life sentence without the possibility of parole (SLSWP) for rather uncommon repeat offenders (i.e. drug traffickers, human traffickers, serious sexual offenders).FindingsStudy 1 found that right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) was an SHP predictor for first time and repeat fraud, violent and sex offenders. Study 2 found that national identity (i.e. how British or Singaporean participants felt) played a similar role to Study 1’s RWA in being a positive SLSWP predictor for repeat human traffickers and drug traffickers of both sexes, as well as male sex offenders. In contrast to the hypothesis, however, participants’ locations did not appear to play a statistically significant role.Research limitations/implicationsThis survey-based research reveals a nuanced and quite consistent picture that could benefit from the inclusion of socio-economic factors and other cross-cultural comparisons.Practical implicationsThe key message from this study is to inform the public on the role that right-wing authoritarianism and national identity play in their SHP and SLSWP.Social implicationsIt is vital to increase the legislators’ and the public awareness of the role that national identity and RWA seem to play.Originality/valueThe paper offers insight into factors behind people’s punitive attitudes towards specific crimes regardless of geo-cultural location.

Reducing Stigma and Punitive Attitudes Toward Pedophiles Through Narrative Humanization.

Stigmatization and societal punitiveness about pedophilia have a range of potential consequences, such as the social isolation of people with sexual interest in children, and the formation of policies that are not consistent with empirical research findings. Previous research has shown that people with pedophilic sexual interests use societal thinking to self-stigmatize, which in turn may actually serve to increase their risk of committing a sexual offense. In this study, we compared two attitudinal interventions (first-person narrative vs. expert opinion) using a student sample ( N = 100). It was hypothesized that both interventions would lead to reductions in stigmatization and punitive attitudes about pedophiles on an explicit (self-report) level but that only the narrative intervention would lead to reductions of these constructs at the implicit level. Our findings supported both hypotheses. We further discuss the role of narrative humanization in this area and offer suggestions for further research based upon the theoretical and methodological implications of the findings.

College education, major, or criminology classes? An examination of what drives students’ level of punitiveness

This study examines the level of punitiveness of criminology and criminal justice (CRIM) majors and non-majors. In particular, undergraduate students from a mid-western university situated in a rural area were surveyed to determine if college education, major, or exposure to CRIM classes impacts their punitive attitudes towards offenders. Regression analyses suggest that it is not the number of CRIM classes or the liberalization effect of college but the major that best predicts the level of punitiveness. Results also indicate that predictors of punitiveness differ between CRIM majors and non-CRIM majors. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Violent victimisation, professional self-esteem, and punitivity of German police officers

ABSTRACTTo date, punitive attitudes of police officers have received only little attention in criminological research. The present study addresses this lack of research by investigating punitivity in German police officers. Focus is placed on violent victimisation, which has been commonly considered to be a main cause of punitive attitudes. Furthermore, this study examined whether police officers’ professional self-esteem is related to punitivity and serves as a protective factor that buffers the negative effect of violent victimisation on punitivity. Ordinary least square regression analyses based on a sample of 15,733 German police officers support a relationship between victimisation experiences and punitivity. Police officers who had been violently attacked within the last year reported higher levels of punitivity than non-victims. Moreover, respondents with repeated victimisation experiences were the most punitive. While higher levels of professional self-esteem were indeed associated with less punitivity, the suggested protective influence of police officers’ professional self-esteem could not be confirmed. By contrast, higher levels of self-esteem instead increased the negative effects of victimisation experiences on punitivity.

Disparate vantage points: Race, gender, county context, and attitudes about harsh punishments in the US

In this paper, I use data from the General Social Survey, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, and other sources to consider differences in attitudes about punishment among four groups—Black men, Black women, White men, and White women—as well as how these differences vary according to county crime rates. Centering my expectations about group-specific attitudes within conflict theory and prior empirical findings, I am guided by the presumption that race and gender are cultural categories that shape attitudes about punishment by influencing our interactions with the criminal justice system, and that the meaning of these cultural categories varies by context. Analyses provide some evidence that race, gender, and context interact to shape attitudes about punishment. Overall, this research improves our understanding of group differences in punitive attitudes and of the cultural context in which the US system of incarceration operates.

Advancement of Women in Emergency Medicine: New Strategies for Different Outcomes.

Advancement of Women in Emergency Medicine: New Strategies for Different Outcomes.

“It must be great being a female pedophile!”: The nature of public perceptions about female teacher sex offenders

Although female sex offenders have received increased scholarly attention in recent years, and have also gained widespread media attention, minimal research has focused specifically on public perceptions of their behavior. This study explores the nature of public perceptions of a group of offenders on which the media often focus—female teachers who assault adolescent male students—by examining reader comments posted on five Huffington Post articles published from November 2010 to November 2013. Using a thematic coding methodology to analyze over 900 online comments, we found that most comments recognize a current double standard in the sentencing process for female teacher sex offenders compared to their male counterparts. Comments also rely on traditional sexual scripts and/or gender role expectations to either acknowledge or deny a victim’s presence. Contrary to existing research that examined public perceptions and found that more punitive attitudes were expressed toward male sex offenders, these results suggest that the public believes in equality in sentencing for all sex offenders, regardless of gender. These results also confirm prior studies that find that the public perceives adolescent male victims of rape by older women “lucky.”

Religious fundamentalism, religiosity, and priming: effects on attitudes, perceptions, and mock jurors’ decisions in an insanity defense case

ABSTRACTJurors are asked to use their personal knowledge and experience to make verdict decisions; thus, it is no surprise that their religious beliefs might influence their decisions. During legal insanity trials, jurors might also be exposed to religious stimuli (e.g. crucifix, prayer, Bible, etc.), which could evoke (prime) religious beliefs and thus influence decisions. Two studies examined whether dimensions of religiosity and religious beliefs relate to attitudes and decisions concerning mental health defenses, testing social identity theory against Allport and Ross’s religiosity hypothesis. In Study 1 (attitudes survey) and Study 2 (mock juror decision-making paradigm), religious fundamentalist beliefs consistently predicted punitive attitudes and decisions related to mental health defenses and verdicts, and this was moderated by intrinsic religiosity, such that religious fundamentalist beliefs only predicted punitiveness for individuals low in intrinsic religiosity. Also, priming fundamentalist beliefs increased punitiveness in both verdict and sentencing decisions. Combined, these results suggest that religious beliefs play a role in jurors’ verdict decisions in an insanity case, and that priming fundamentalist beliefs increases jurors’ punitiveness. Allport and Ross’s religiosity hypothesis was supported, but social identity theory was not.

PresentationsWorking with the impact of trauma and adversity on personal distress and offending in a high secure setting: towards a high secure model of trauma informed careUnderstanding punitive attitudes and judgements about sexual offenders Craig Harper SymposiumFuture directions in the treatment of sexual fantasiesApproaches to understanding stalking Convenor: Dr Simon Duff, University of NottinghamExploring the process of psychological risk assessment

PresentationsWorking with the impact of trauma and adversity on personal distress and offending in a high secure setting: towards a high secure model of trauma informed careUnderstanding punitive attitudes and judgements about sexual offenders Craig Harper SymposiumFuture directions in the treatment of sexual fantasiesApproaches to understanding stalking Convenor: Dr Simon Duff, University of NottinghamExploring the process of psychological risk assessment

Equality and Human Dignity: The Missing Ingredients in American Sentencing

AbstractConcern for equality and human dignity is largely absent from American sentencing. Prison sentences are imposed much more often than in any other Western country. Prison terms are incomparably longer. The greater frequency of imprisonment is a product of punitive attitudes and politicization of crime control policies. The longer terms result partly from abolition of parole release in every jurisdiction for all or some inmates, but mostly from the proliferation since the mid-1980s of mandatory minimum, three-strikes, life without parole, and truth-in-sentencing laws. The ideas that offenders should be treated as equals and with concern and respect for their interests largely disappeared, though they had been animating values of earlier indeterminate and determinate sentencing systems. Their disregard is evident in the nature of contemporary laws but also in low-visibility policies and practices including the near absence of meaningful systems of appellate sentence review, low standards of proof at ...

To Punish or Not to Punish-That Is the Question.

Attitudes toward punishment have long been of interest to policymakers, researchers, and criminal justice practitioners. The current study examined the relationship between academic education in criminology and attitudes toward punishment among 477 undergraduate students in three subgroups: police officers, correctional officers, and criminology students who were not employed by the criminal justice system (CJS). Our main findings concluded that (a) punitive attitudes of the correctional officers and police officers at the beginning of their academic studies were harsher than those of the criminology and criminal justice students who were not employed by the CJS, (b) punitive attitudes of the correctional officers at the end of their academic studies were less severe than their first-year counterparts, (c) fear of crime was higher among women than among men, and (d) the strongest predictor of punitive attitudes was a firm belief in the principles of the classical and labeling theories (beyond group). Implications of these results are discussed.