NCJ Number
199653
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 49 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 285-312
Date Published
April 2003
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined inmate attitudes toward capital punishment to determine whether individual and social characteristics predicted death-penalty support for a sample of 309 Midwestern inmates.
Abstract
The research instrument used to collect the data was an 11-page, 100-item questionnaire that consisted of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. To determine predictors of the inmates' death penalty attitudes, the researchers conducted a series of ordinal regression analyses. The findings show that although a slight majority of inmates opposed capital punishment (53 percent), opposition softened considerably for crimes such as serial killing, child molestation, and child abuse. Factors that significantly predicted inmate death penalty support included that belief that capital punishment deters violent crime, family members' capital punishment advocacy, and a high score on the Alpha scale (a measure that assesses inmate identification with violent and aggressive aspects of hegemonic masculinity). Also, a significant inverse relationship emerged between the belief that a person can be rehabilitated and death penalty support. The findings indicate that inmate death penalty opinions are complex and can provide information on the effectiveness of current social control practices. 3 tables, 8 notes, 42 references, and appended scales and the bivariate correlation matrix