Predicting support for community corrections: Crime type and severity, and offender, observer, and victim characteristics

Abstract

The aim of the current research was to examine the contribution of crime type and severity as well as offender, observer, and victim characteristics to prediction of perception of community correction (CC) as an appropriate punishment. We conducted a telephone survey among Israeli citizens. A random and representative sample of 573 respondents, aged 20 to 74, evaluated the seriousness of crime scenarios and the appropriateness of CC for each scenario. In different versions of crime scenarios, we manipulated offence type as well as offender and victim characteristics. The results of a logistic regression indicate that perceived lower crime severity, a crime that is not murder, older offender age, and being a secular observer are related with an increased likelihood of supporting community corrections. The discussion addresses these findings in the context of punitive goals (e.g., revenge, retribution), public perception of offender dangerousness, and social identity theory.

The Association between Lifestyle Changes and Psychological Distress during COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of COVID-Related Stressors

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have multidimensional effects, endangering not just health, but also economic stability, civil rights, and mental health [ 1 ]. On the psychological dimension, the feelings of uncertainty, ambiguity, and loss of control caused by the pandemic and the resultant conditions (such as quarantine and lockdowns, social distancing, and occupational changes) have been shown to be strongly associated with psychological distress [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Differences in attitudes toward terrorists: Type of terrorist act, terrorist ethnicity, and observer gender and cultural background

“…To examine the effect of perpetrator ethnicity and type of terrorist act, we created six vignettes: two types of perpetrator ethnicity (Arab, Jewish) and three types of terrorist act (shooting causing injuries and death, arson of a religious institution, throwing stones at vehicles). According to previous research on crime type and severity (Herzog, 2017; Levy et al, 2021), shootings causing injury or death are associated with a higher severity level than arson of a religious institution and throwing stones at cars causing only property damage. Since the vignettes included the consequences of the acts (injuries, property damage), we assumed that a shooting causing injury and death would represent a more severe type of terrorist act than arson and stone-throwing causing property damage.…”

“…Additionally, this study employed a factorial design, which examines the combined effects of crime severity and offender and observer characteristics (Jasso, 2006). Such a methodological design identifies factors that people consider more significant regarding their attitudes (Levy et al, 2021). We also addressed Levi and Jones’s (Levi & Jones, 1985) criticism of a one-dimensional approach to public attitudes toward offenders that tends to focus on a single aspect (e.g., offender blaming, support for harsh punishments; e.g., Cohen-Louck et al, 2021; Rozmann & Levy, 2019).…”

“…Studies on public attitudes toward offenders tend to address various aspects such as support for community correction (Levy et al, 2021), support for capital punishment (Cohen-Louck et al, 2021), and crime severity (Einat & Herzog, 2011; Herzog, 2017). To focus on the multidimensional nature of attitudes toward terrorists, this study adopted Holtfreter et al’s (2008) and Dodge et al’s (2013) conceptualizations of attitudes toward offenders, addressing such aspects as perceived severity of the crime, suggested length of imprisonment, suggested severity of punishment, and support for governmental investment of resources to combat terrorist acts.…”

Predicting Israeli Public Support for Capital Punishment: Crime Type and Severity, Offender, Observer, and Victim Characteristics

“…Research on attitudes toward offender distinguish between the legal factors, like the type of crime and crime severity (Alderden & Ullman, 2012;Beichner & Spohn, 2005), and extralegal factors like offender, victim and observer characteristics (Levy et al, 2021;Miller & Wright, 2008), and shows that extralegal factors play an important role in attitudes towards capital punishment (Tellis & Spohn, 2008). The current study includes legal and extralegal factors and aims to examine the type of crime, crime severity and offender, observer, and victim characteristics as possible predictors of attitudes towards capital punishment.…”