Back to Search
Start Over
A View From the Inside: The Role of Redemption, Deterrence, and Masculinity on Inmate Support for the Death Penalty
- Source :
- Crime & Delinquency. 49:285-312
- Publication Year :
- 2003
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2003.
-
Abstract
- Seeking to redress the lack of inmate-centered research, the authors examine inmate attitudes towards capital punishment to determine whether individual and social characteristics predict death penalty support for a sample of 309 midwestern inmates. The authors’ results indicate that while a slight majority of inmates opposed capital punishment (53%), opposition softened considerably for crimes such as serial killing, child molestation, and child abuse. Factors that significantly predicted inmate death penalty support included the belief that capital punishment deters violent crime, family members’ capital punishment advocacy, and a high score on the Alpha scale (a measure assessing inmate identification with violent and aggressive aspects of hegemonic masculinity). In addition, a significant inverse relationship emerged between the belief that a person can be rehabilitated and death penalty support. The findings strongly suggest that inmate death penalty opinions are complex and nuanced and can offer considerable insights regarding the efficacy of current social control practices.
- Subjects :
- Child abuse
Social characteristics
media_common.quotation_subject
050901 criminology
05 social sciences
Opposition (politics)
Redress
Criminology
Violent crime
Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Masculinity
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Capital punishment
0509 other social sciences
Psychology
Law
Social psychology
Hegemonic masculinity
050104 developmental & child psychology
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1552387X and 00111287
- Volume :
- 49
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Crime & Delinquency
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........d017fbb860b984e0f2716d7f58715f16