Popular support for the prison build-up

Abstract

A substantial build-up in prison capacity and the use of incarceration in the USA began in the mid-1970s and continued through to the end of the century. Researchers generally agree that a broad-based social movement supported the build-up, but disagree over the core features of the movement. Some researchers argue that it was the by-product of social discontents associated with rapid social change. Other researchers contend that the movement was an instance of purposeful people seeking solutions to a problem. Across several data sets, little evidence is found to support the position that advocates of the prison build-up had suffered from recent social changes. Instead, the evidence suggests that people supported the build-up for instrumental reasons.

Rising punitivity in times of economic crisis? Assessing the relationship between the economic situation and the longing for harsher sanctioning

“…In line with these findings, the work by Useem, Liedka and Piehl (2003) does not find much support for the assumption that the objective or subjective individual economic situation affects individual punitivity. The authors run different models for four indicators of punitive attitudes (favouring death penalty, courts are too lenient, spending too little money to halt the rising crime rate and spending too little on law enforcement).…”

The Influence of Criminal Justice Major on Punitive Attitudes

“…These divergent findings are often contextualized by the specific issue under examination (e.g., rape, the death penalty, juvenile crime, etc.). To complicate matters further, other studies (Rossi and Berk 1997;Useem, Liedka, and Piehl 2003) have found middle-aged respondents (35-65) more punitive, while younger (under 35) and older (over 65) respondents were less punitive. In addition, more recent research has shown that older respondents are less punitive than younger respondents, reflecting a negative relationship between age and punitiveness (Barkan and Cohn 2005;Chiricos et al 2004;Hogan et al 2005).…”

Ontological Insecurity, Racial Tension, and Confidence in the Police in the Shadow of Urban Unrest

“…Unnever and Cullen () found a positive relationship between perceptions of moral decline in society and support for the death penalty, but no significant relationship with a broader, punitive preference for punishment. In the most extensive critique of this theory, Useem, Liedka, and Piehl () employed a variety of measures of economic insecurity and found few significant relationships with several different measures of punitive attitudes; furthermore, many of the significant findings that were present indicated that insecurity decreased punitiveness, contrary to the theory.…”