Political identity and support for capital punishment: A test of attribution theory

Journal of Crime and Justice

Volumn 29, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 45-79

  Cochran, John K ^a   Boots, Denise Paquette ^a   Chamlin, Mitchell B ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84897711430     PISSN: 0735648X     EISSN: 21589119     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0735648X.2006.9721217     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Alwin, D., Cohen, R. L., and Newcomb, T. M., 1991. Political Attitudes over the Life Span: The Bennington Women after Fifty Years., Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
2. Alwin, D., and Krosnick, J. A., 1991. “Aging, Cohorts, and the Stability of Sociopolitical Orientations over the Life Span.”. American Journal of Sociology, 97: 169–195.
3. Applegate, B. K., Cullen, F. T., Fisher, B. S., and Vander Ven, T., 2000. “Forgiveness and Fundamentalism: Reconsidering the Relationship between Correctional Attitudes and Religion.”. Criminology, 38: 719–753.
4. Arthur, J., 1998. “Proximate Correlates of Black's Support for Capital Punishment.”. Journal of Crime and Justice, 21: 159–172.
5. Baumer, E. P., Messner, S. F., and Rosenfeld, R., 2003. “Explaining Spatial Variation in Support for Capital Punishment: A Multilevel Analysis.”. American Journal of Sociology, 108: 844–875.
6. Barkan, S. E., and Cohn, S. F., 1994. “Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites.”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 31: 202–209.
7. Beckett, K., 1997. Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics., New York: Oxford University Press.
8. Blank, R., and Blinder, A., 1986. “Macro-economics, Income Distribution, and Poverty.”. In Fighting Poverty., Edited by: Danzinger, S., and Weinberg, D., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
9. Bohm, R. M., 1991. “American Death Penalty Opinion, 1936–1986: A Critical Examination of the Gallup Polls.”. In The Death Penalty in America: Current Research., Edited by: Bohm, R. M., Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
10. Bohm, R. M., 1998. “American Death Penalty Opinion: Past, Present, and Future.”. In America's Experiment with Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Ultimate Penal Sanction., Edited by: Acker, R., Bohm, R. M., and Lanier, C. S., Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
11. Bohm, R. M., 2003. “ American Death Penalty Opinion: Past, Present, and Future.”. In America's Experiment with Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Ultimate Penal Sanction., Edited by: Acker, R., Bohm, R. M., and Lanier, C. S., Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
12. Boots, D. P., Cochran, J. K., and Heide, K. M., 2003. “Capital Punishment Preferences for Special Offender Populations.”. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31: 553–565.
13. Boots, D. P., Heide, K. M., and Cochran, J. K., 2004. “Death Penalty Support for Special Offender Populations of Legally Convicted Murderers: Juveniles, the Mentally Retarded, and the Mentally Incompetent.”. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 22: 223–238.
14. Borg, M. J., 1993. “The Southern Subculture of Punitiveness? Regional Variation in Support for Capital Punishment.”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 34: 25–45.
15. Bowers, W. J., Vandiver, M., and Dugan, P. H., 1994. “A New Look at Public Ppinion on Capital Punishment: What Citizens and Legislators Prefer.”. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 22: 77–150.
16. Brace, P., Sims-Butler, K., Arceneaux, K., and Johnson, M., 2002. “Public Opinion in the American States: New Perspectives Using National Survey Data.”. American Journal of Political Science, 46: 173–189.
17. Brillion, Y., 1988. “Punitiveness, Status, and Ideology in Three Canadian Provinces.”. In Public Attitudes to Sentencing., Edited by: Walker, N., and Hough, M., London: Grover.
18. Burnham, J., 1970. “Notes on Authority, Morality, Power.”. The National Review, 123: 1283–1289.
19. Carroll, J. S., 1978. “Causal Theories of Crime and their Effect upon Expert Parole Decisions.”. Law and Human Behavior, 2: 377–388.
20. Carroll, J. S., and Payne, J. W., 1977. “Crime Seriousness, Recidivism Risk, and Causal Attributions in Judgments of Prison Term by Students and Experts.”. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62: 595–602.
21. Carroll, J. S., Perkowitz, W. T., Lurigio, A. J., and Weaver, F. M., 1987. “Sentencing Goals, Causal Attribution, Ideology, and Personality.”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32: 107–118.
22. Cochran, J. K., Boots, D. P., and Heide, K. M., 2003. “Attribution Styles and Attitudes toward Capital Punishment for Juveniles, the Mentally Incompetent, and the Mentally Retarded.”. Justice Quarterly, 20: 65–93.
23. Cook, K. J., 1998. “‘A Passion to Punish’ Abortion Opponents who Favor the Death Penalty.”. Justice Quarterly, 15: 329–346.
24. Cullen, F., Clark, G. A., Cullen, J. B., and Mathers, R. A., 1985. “Attribution, Salience, and Attitudes toward Criminal Sentencing.”. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 12: 305–331.
25. Curry, T. R., 1996. “Conservative Protestantism and the Perceived Wrongfulness of Crimes: A Research Note.”. Criminology, 34: 453–464.
26. Dalton, R. J., 1980. “Reassessing Parental Socialization: Indicator Unreliability versus Generational Transfer.”. American Political Science Review, 74: 421–431.
27. Dunaway, R. G., and Cullen, F. T., 1991. “Explaining Crime Ideology: An Exploration of the Parental Socialization Perspective.”. Crime and Delinquency, 37: 536–554.
28. Durham, A. M., EIrod, H P., and Kinkade, P. T., 1996. “Public Support for the Death Penalty: Beyond Gallup.”. Justice Quarterly, 13: 705–731.
29. Edsal, T. B., and Edsal, M. D., 1991. Chain Reaction., New York: W. W. Norton.
30. Ellsworth, P. C., and Gross, S. R., 1994. “Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans’ Views on the Death Penalty.”. Journal of Social Issues, 50: 19–52.
31. Erikson, E. H., 1968. Identity, Youth and Crisis., New York: W.W. Norton.
32. Erskine, H., 1970. “The Polls: Capital Punishment.”. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34: 290–307.
33. Feldman, S., 1988. “Structure and Consistency in Public Opinion: The Role of Core Beliefs and Values.”. American Journal of Political Science, 32: 416–440.
34. Finckenauer, J. O., 1988. “Public Support for the Death Penalty: Retribution as Just Deserts or Retribution as Revenge?”. Justice Quarterly, 5: 81–100.
35. Fox, J. A., Radelet, M. L., and Bonsteel, J. L., 1990-1991. “Death Penalty Opinion in the Post-Furman Years.”. New York University Review of Law and Social Change, 18: 499–528.
36. Gallup Poll Online. October 4 2004. “Special Report: The Death Penalty” October 4, (August 30,2002). Available online at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/print.aspx?ci=9913
37. Garland, D., 2001. The Culture of Control., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
38. Glenn, N. D., 1980. “Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs.”. In Constancy and Change in Human Development., Edited by: Brim, O. G., and Kagan, J., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
39. Graham, S., Weiner, B., and Zucker, G. S., 1997. “An Attributional Analysis of Punishment Goals and Public Reactions to O.J. Simpson.”. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23: 331–346.
40. Grasmick, H. G., Bursik, R. J., Jr. and Blackwell, B. S., 1993a. “Religious Beliefs and Public Support for the Death Penalty for Juveniles and Adults.”. Journal of Crime and Justice, 26: 59–86.
41. Grasmick, H. G., Bursik, R. J., Jr. and Kimpel, M., 1991. “Protestant Fundamentalism and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment of Children.”. Violence and Victims, 6: 283–293.
42. Grasmick, H. G., Cochran, J. K., Bursick, R. J., Jr. and Kimpel, M., 1993b. “Religion, Punitive Justice, and Support for the Death Penalty.”. Justice Quarterly, 10: 289–314.
43. Grasmick, H. G., Davenport, E., Chamlin, M. B., and Bursik, R. J., Jr. 1992. “Protestant Fundamentalism and the Retributive Doctrine of Punishment.”. Criminology, 30: 21–45.
44. Grasmick, H. G., and McGill, A. L., 1994. “Religion, Attribution Style, and Punitiveness toward Juvenile Offenders.”. Criminology, 32: 23–46.
45. Gross, S. R., 1998. “Update: American Public Opinion on the Death Penalty— It's Getting Personal.”. Cornell Law Review, 83: 1448–1475.
46. Haines, H. H., 1996. Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-death Penalty Movement in America, 1972–1994., New York: Oxford University Press.
47. Harris, P. W., 1986. “Over-simplification and Error in Public Opinion Surveys on Capital Punishment.”. Justice Quarterly, 3: 429–455.
48. Hawkins, D. F., 1981. “Causal Attribution and Punishment for Crime.”. Deviant Behavior, 2: 207–230.
49. Heider, F., 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations., New York: John Wiley & Sons.
50. Hibbs, D., 1987. The American Political Economy., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
51. Hyman, H. H., 1959. Political Socialization., Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
52. Jacobs, D., and Carmichael, J. T., 2001. “The Politics of Punishment across Time and Space: A Pooled Time Series Analysis of Imprisonment Rates.”. Social Forces, 80: 91–121.
53. Jacobs, D., and Carmichael, J. T., 2002. “The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis.”. American Sociological Review, 67: 109–131.
54. Jacobs, D., and Carmichael, J. T., 2004. “Ideology, Social Threat, and the Death Sentence: Capital Sentences across Time and Space.”. Social Forces, 83: 249–278.
55. Jacobs, D., and Helms, R., 1996. “Toward a Political Model of Incarceration.”. American Journal of Sociology, 102: 323–357.
56. Jacobs, D., and Helms, R., 1997. “Testing Coercive Explanations for Order: The Determinants of Law Enforcement Strength Over Time.”. Social Forces, 75: 1361–1392.
57. Jacobs, D., and Helms, R., 1999. “Collective Outbursts, Politics, and Punitive Resources.”. Social Forces, 77: 1497–1524.
58. Jennings, M. K., and Metni, R. G., 1968. “The Transmission of Political Values from Parent to Child.”. American Political Science Review, 42: 169–184.
59. Jennings, M. K., and Niemi, R. G., 1981. Generations and Politics: A Panel Study of Young Adults and their Parents., Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
60. Kaminer, W., 1995. It's All the Rage: Crime and Culture., Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
61. Kroger, J., 1989. Identity in Adolescence: The Balance between Self and Other., London: Routledge.
62. Lacey, N., 1988. State Punishment: Political Principles and Community Values., London: Routledge.
63. Lakoff, G., 1986. Moral Panics., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
64. Langworthy, R. H., and Whitehead, J. T., 1986. “Liberalism and Fear as Explanations for Punitiveness.”. Criminology, 24: 575–591.
65. Lavoie, J. C., 1994. “Identity in Adolescence: Issue of Theory, Structure and Transition.”. Journal of Adolescence, 17: 17–28.
66. Lurigio, A. J., Carroll, J. S., and Stalans, L. J., 1994. “Understanding Judges’ Sentencing Decisions: Attributions of Responsibility and Story Construction.”. In Applications of Heuristics and Biases to Social Issues, Edited by: Heath, L., and Tindale, S., Vol. 3, New York: Plenum Press.
67. Marwell, G., Aiken, M. T., and Demerath, N. J., 1987. “The Persistence of Political Attitudes among 1960s Civil Rights Activists.”. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51: 359–375.
68. Molnar, T., 1976. Authority and its Enemies., New York: Arlington House.
69. Moon, M. M., Wright, J. P., Cullen, F. T., and Pealer, J. A., 2000. “Putting Kids to Death: Specifying Public Support for Juvenile Capital Punishment.”. Justice Quarterly, 17: 663–684.
70. Moore, D. W., 1994. “Majority Advocates Death Penalty for Teenage Killers.”. Gallup Poll Monthly, September: 2–5.
71. Murray, G. R., 2003. “Raising Considerations: Public Opinion and the Fair Application of the Death Penalty.”. Social Science Quarterly, 84: 753–770.
72. Niemi, R. G., Danforth, R. R., and Alexander, J., 1978. “The Similarity of Political Values of Parents and College-Aged Youths.”. Public Opinion Quarterly, 42: 503–520.
73. Norrander, B., 2000. “The Multi-Layered Impact of Public Opinion on Capital Punishment Implementation in the American States.”. Political Research Quarterly, 53: 771–793.
74. Rennie, Y., 1978. The Search for Criminal Man: A Conceptual History of the Dangerous Offender., Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
75. Sandys, M., and McGarrell, E. F., 1994. “Attitudes toward Capital Punishment among Indiana Legislators: Diminished Support in Light of Alternative Sentencing Options.”. Justice Quarterly, 11: 651–677.
76. Sandys, M., and McGarrell, E. F., 1995. “Attitudes toward Capital Punishment: Preferences for the Penalty or Mere Acceptance?”. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32: 191–213.
77. Shaver, K. G., 1975. An Introduction to Attribution Processes., Cambridge, England: Winthrop.
78. Sims, B., 2003. “The Impact of Causal Attribution on Correctional Ideology: A National Study.”. Criminal Justice Review, 28: 1–25.
79. Smith, T. W., 1990. “Classifying Protestant Denominations.”. Review of Religious Research, 38: 225–245.
80. Soss, J., Langbein, L., and Metelko, A. R., 2003. Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?. The Journal of Politics, 65: 397–421.
81. Taylor, D., Scheppele, K. L., and Stinchcomb, A. J., 1979. “Salience of Crime and Support for Harsher Criminal Sanctions.”. Social Problems, 46: 413–424.
82. Tedin, K., 1974. “The Influence of Parents on the Political Attitudes of Adolescents.”. American Political Science Review, 68: 1579–1592.
83. Tedin, K., 1980. “Assessing Peer with Parent Influence on Adolescent Political Attitudes.”. American Journal of Political Science, 24: 136–154.
84. Thomas, C. W., and Foster, S. C., 1975. “A Sociological Perspective on Public Support for Capital Punishment.”. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 45: 641–657.
85. Thorne, M. J., 1990. American Conservative Thought since World War II: The Core Ideas., New York: Greenwood Press.
86. Tyler, T. R., and Weber, R., 1982. “Support for the Death Penalty: Instrumental Response to Crime or Symbolic Attitude?”. Law and Society Review, 17: 21–45.
87. BureauU.S. of the Census. 1990. 1990 Census Data: Florida [On-line] Available at: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/stateabs.html
88. Van Dijk, J. J. M., and Steinmetz, C. H. D., 1988. “Pragmatism, Ideology, and Crime Control.”. In Public Attitudes to Sentencing., Edited by: Walker, N., and Hough, M., London: Grover.
89. Vidmar, N., and Ellsworth, P., 1974. “Public Opinion and the Death Penalty.”. Stanford Law Review, 26: 1245–1270.
90. Vogel, B. L., and Vogel, R. E., 2003. “The Age of Death: Appraising Public Opinion of Juvenile Capital Punishment.”. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31: 169–183.
91. Void, G. B., 1958. Theoretical Criminology., New York: Oxford University Press.
92. Vollum, S., Longmire, D. R., and Buffington-Vollum, J., 2004. “Confidence in the Death Penalty and Support for Its Use: Exploring the Value-Expressive Dimension of Death Penalty Attitudes.”. Justice Quarterly, 21: 521–546.
93. Young, R. L., 1991. “Race, Conceptions of Crime and Justice, and Support for the Death Penalty.”. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54: 67–75.