Public support for the death penalty: Beyond gallup

Experimental Analysis of Attitudes: The Factorial-Survey Approach

“…This finding was mainly seen for the rating of middleranking and relatively non-serious offenses-serious offenses were considered as very serious regardless of the applied survey technique-, and is also compatible with other findings in the literature: research tends to show that respondents tend to be less homogeneous and unequivocal when they are presented with more information for their evaluation, and when more sophisticated survey methods are used (see Applegate et al, 1996 [78]; Doob & Roberts, 1983 [79]; Durham et al, 1996 [36]; Roberts, 1992 [39]). For example, and only as example, see the findings in research on public support for the use of the death penalty in the US: a common finding in this area of research is that as the survey is more developed and rich, and the respondents are confronted with the details of specific cases, the respondents' views tend to be less homogeneous and severe than when they are answering a general question (see for example, Cullen et al, 2000 [80]; Murray, 2003 [81]).…”

Euthanasia as a Serious Homicide: An Empirical Study of (Normative) Consensus in Israel

“…Despite the high heterogeneity and complexity of euthanasia situations and attitudes toward it, many of the aforementioned studies in this area called for general, simplistic responses (no/yes; agree/disagree) to very complex questions stated in simple terms. Accordingly, the information that becomes available through such polls and studies is limited (Applegate et al, 1993;Denk et al, 1997;Durham et al, 1996;Jacoby and Cullen, 1999;Rossi and Berk, 1997). 10 Social scientists, cognizant of these methodological limitations, introduced the scenario approach to provide respondents with a more complex rating task, one that more closely approximates the information available in real-life situations and leaves less room for interpretative variation.…”

“…Despite their diversity, crime seriousness studies, which typically require respondents to evaluate criminal acts based on their seriousness, have consistently shown wide support for the consensus model in the particular case of criminal homicides (Jacoby and Cullen, 1999;Newman, 1976;Rossi and Berk, 1997;Thomas et al, 1976;Warr et al, 1982): these acts are universally seen by respondents as extremely serious and harmful (O'Connell and Whelan, 1996;Roberts, 1992;Rossi and Berk, 1997;Rossi et al, 1974;Sellin and Wolfgang, 1964;Wolfgang et al, 1985); thus they usually demand for murders the most serious criminal punishments (Applegate et al, 1993;Durham et al, 1996;Jacoby and Cullen, 1999;Mitchell, 1998). Both views are widely reflected in criminal codes.…”

Capital? child rape : does public opinion support the use of the death penalty on child rapists?

“…Harris (1986) and Durham, Elrod and Kinkade (1996) also profess to have found overwhelming support for the death penalty as punishment for the crime of murder.…”

“…During the 1996 study, Durham, Elrod and Kinkade cited the time's most recent Gallup Poll (1995) showing 77% of Americans polled were in favor of capital punishment. This study both tested the public's willingness to apply the death penalty to murderers when specific scenarios were given and began to gauge the way in which aggravators and mitigating factors work in regard to death penalty support (Bohm, 1999;Durham, et al, 1996). While Bowers (1993) believed that fewer people supported the death penalty than surveys reported, Durham and colleagues found that given specific scenarios people were more likely to choose to impose the death penalty than when asked favor/oppose questions such as "In general, would you say you are in favor of, against, the use of the death penalty […] or are you not sure?"…”