NCJ Number
231958
Journal
Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 831-864
Date Published
August 2010
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether racial-ethnic intolerance predicts support for capital punishment cross-nationally.
Abstract
This article tests cross-nationally the minority group threat thesis that public sentiments toward repressive crime-control policies reflect conflicted racial and ethnic relations. Using multiple data sets representing France, Belgium, the Netherlands, East and West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Ireland, and Portugal, the authors examine whether racial and ethnic intolerance, animus, resentments, or negative sentiments toward minorities, predicts greater support for the death penalty. The results reveal that the respondents were significantly more likely to express support for capital punishment if they were racially or ethnically intolerant while controlling for other covariates of public opinion. These findings indicate that the link between support for capital punishment and racial and ethnic animus may occur universally in countries with conflicted racial and ethnic relations. Tables, references, and appendix (Published Abstract)