NCJ Number
76657
Journal
Indian Journal of Criminology Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 61-67
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Results are reported from a study in India of the social distance citizens place between themselves and ex-prisoners, based on the education of the respondent and the type of crime committed by the ex-prisoner.
Abstract
A stratified random sample of 262 male respondents was selected from the rural town of Paton near the city of Jabalpur. Data were collected by means of a social distance scale regarding subject attitudes toward ex-prisoners who committed crimes within the broad categories of violent and nonviolent. Results show that social distance placed between respondents and ex-prisoners does vary by type of crime, with the social distance being greatest for nonviolent crimes. By way of explaining this finding, one respondent remarked that violent crimes are more manly and less despicable than nonviolent crimes, indicating that in the particular community surveyed, there is a lower social stigma regarding violent behavior. Social distance was found to vary weakly according to the education of the respondent, with social distance tending to rise with education. This may be attributed to the widening of status and mental gap between the educated respondents and the illiterate group, to which most of the ex-prisoners belong. Overall, findings show the difficulty ex-prisoners have in being accepted into society after release. Community agencies as well as the ex-prisoners themselves must work to modify these attitudes if rehabilitation of ex-offenders is to occur. Study data and 23 references are provided.