Salience of Crime and Support for Harsher Criminal Sanctions

TLDR

Many simple theories of effect are not supported, and fear or victimization does not necessarily lead to support for harsher sanctions. This paper examines the relation between the salience of crime and support for harsher legal sanctions (capital punishment, harsher courts) in American public opinion. At the ecological level, higher crime rates and fear do not increase demand for harsher sanctions, yet public opinion and crime‑punishment ideology are more consistent in high‑risk areas.

Abstract

This paper examines the relation between the salience of crime and support for harsher legal sanctions (capital punishment, harsher courts) in American public opinion. Many of the "simple theories" of effect are not supported. People who are more afraid or who have been victimized do not necessarily favor harsher sanctions. At the ecological level, in environments which are characterized by higher rates of crime and greater fear of crime, respondents do not express a greater demand for harsher sanctions. However, public opinion and the "ideology" of crime and punishment are much more consistent in high risk areas.