This study examines the effects of information about the death penalty on the attitudes of university students. Using an experimental design and a stratified cluster sampling procedure, this study addresses some of the limitations of previous research. Changes in death penalty attitudes at post-test were modest; however, it was also found that the degree of attitude change at post-test did not differ significantly between the experimental and control groups. The results of this study, in conjunction with the findings of previous studies of this nature, indicate that, while students tend to have limited knowledge of the death penalty, exposure to new information about it may not be sufficient to elicit change in their attitudes about the punishment.

Using the National Crime Victimization Survey 2006 Stalking Victimization Supplement (NCVS-SVS) and guided by Greenberg and Ruback's social influence model, this study examines the effects of individual (e.g., severity, sex, victim-offender relationship) and contextual (e.g., location) factors on stalking victimization risk, victim labeling and help seeking, and victim and third-party police contacts. Logistic regression results suggest individual and contextual characteristics matter. Consistent with prior research and the theoretical model, the positive effects of severity and sex (female) were significant across all dependent variables, whereas the interaction effect of victim-offender relationship and location held only for third-party police contacts.

Research indicates a significant, positive relationship between racial prejudice and death penalty support among white people. The racist punitive bias hypothesis has been proposed as a possible explanation for this relationship, indicating that racially prejudiced people might be more supportive of the death penalty because they perceive minority individuals to be criminal and, therefore, more likely to be subject to the punishment. This study attempted to test the validity of the racist punitive bias hypothesis using or with a convenience sample of U.S. residents. Path and regression analyses indicated a link between racial prejudice and white death penalty support, but did not support the racist punitive bias hypothesis. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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