NCJ Number
203247
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 83 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2003 Pages: 464-482
Date Published
December 2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article examines inmate attitudes toward capital punishment.
Abstract
Death penalty support is highly affected by factors such as respondent demographics, question phrasing, and punishment alternatives. This study seeks to extend previous research in order to obtain a greater understanding of inmate attitudes toward the death penalty. The survey sample was randomly selected from the official list of 1,323 inmates housed in a close-security prison in southwestern Ohio. There was a final sample of 309. Data were collected in 1999. The research found that although inmate opposition to the death penalty slightly outweighed support, this difference was not statistically significant. When offered alternatives to the death penalty, levels of support for capital punishment softened considerably. When asked about support for the application of the death penalty for specific crimes, such as child abuse, only 34.4 percent of the sample consistently opposed capital punishment. The inmates’ responses suggest that inmate attitudes derive from knowledge gained through personal experiences and insights rather than an affective ideological orientation. Their experiences have convinced them that executions do not deter violent crime. They argue that most capital crimes are unplanned and that the criminal justice system is fundamentally flawed, opinions shared by other experts in the field. A large number of respondents opposed the death penalty in principle but supported it when children were harmed. It is hoped that in the future more death penalty opinion research will incorporate the contributions of criminal populations and give voice to the unique and informed insights that these men have to offer about issues of crime and justice. 6 tables, 7 notes, 35 references