General and Specific Measures of Attitudes Toward Early Release of Criminal Offenders

While some previous reports have shown Canadian public support for the principle of conditional release for criminal offenders, others appear to show very punitive attitudes. To reconcile these, two methods of determining opinions were compared. Subjects answered a set of global questions measuring...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of behavioural science 1992-10, Vol.24 (4), p.442-455
Main Authors: CUMBERLAND, JENNIFER, ZAMBLE, EDWARD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude Measures
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Canada
Crime
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice Policy
Criminal Offenders
Criminals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Institutional Release
Offenders
Parole
Parole & probation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Public Opinion
Social psychology
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Summary:While some previous reports have shown Canadian public support for the principle of conditional release for criminal offenders, others appear to show very punitive attitudes. To reconcile these, two methods of determining opinions were compared. Subjects answered a set of global questions measuring attitudes toward the criminal justice system, and they also made decisions about a set of hypothetical offenders applying for parole. The cases varied in the type of offence, criminal history, and participation in rehabilitative programs while in prison. There appeared to be widespread support for parole in some circumstances, e.g., at least a majority of subjects chose some form of early release for each of the nonviolent offenders portrayed. Each of the manipulated variables had significant effects on subjects' willingness to recommend early release, showing that their choices were not determined entirely by considerations of retribution or punishment. A major disparity between global attitudes and specific decisions was found, despite a moderate overall correlation, with the global questions seeming to show much more punitive attitudes than the decisions in specific cases.
ISSN:0008-400X
1879-2669
DOI:10.1037/h0078752