NCJ Number
94396
Journal
Phylon Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Dated: (1982) Pages: 350-359
Date Published
1982
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this paper is to monitor the influence of race throughout the decade of the 1970's on the issue of capital punishment.
Abstract
Data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey of 1972 through 1978 and 1980 serve as the basis for the analysis. The eight surveys fall into three time periods: 1972, 1973, and 1974; 1975 and 1976; and 1977, 1978, and 1980. Support for capital punishment increased during the decade of the 1970's, and the increase characterized both blacks and whites. However, both blacks and whites increased their level of support by about the same percentage, with the result that the relative distance between the groups remained the same. The pattern suggests that forces unrelated to race pushed both blacks and whites in the same direction at the same rate. Explanations that fit the pattern include the increasing pervasiveness of crime and its impact on individuals, and the increasing negative content of media programing and news. Another explanation holds that as income rises, support for capital punishment also rises, so that if income rose for both groups, the increased support would be plausible. But while low-income blacks are moving towards whites, many high-income blacks are moving away. Perhaps low-income blacks are sensitive to victimization. For whites, support of the death penalty is philosophical, part of a general conservative trend. Parallel movement of the two groups does not stem from the same stimuli. Six tables and 17 notes are included.