Testing the Rehabilitative Ideal among College Students

The Influence of Criminal Justice Major on Punitive Attitudes

“…Some studies found that criminology and criminal justice majors were less punitive (Lane 1997;McCarthy and McCarthy 1981;Payne, Time, and Gainey 2006;Tsoudis 2000), while others found they were more punitive, authoritarian, or dogmatic (Austin and O'Neill 1985;Lambert 2004;Mackey and Courtright 2000;Merlo 1980). In addition, some studies reported that differences between majors were small or nonexistent (Benekos, Merlo, Cook, and Bagley 2002;Farnworth et al 1998;Giacopassi and Blankenship 1991;Hensley, Miller, Tewksbury, and Kockeski 2003;Lambert, Hall, Clarke, Ventura, and Elechi 2005;Mackey et al 2006). For example, Tsoudis (2000) reported that criminal justice majors were more supportive of differentiating criminal justice practices between adults and juveniles, were more supportive of criminal rights, and were less punitive than non-majors.…”

“…In addition to the potential of criminal justice students to shape the future of the system, they may also have indirect influence over the views of the lay public about criminal justice issues and practices (Lambert et al 2008). Thus, enhancing knowledge about students' field of study and punitiveness can help educators reflect on their pedagogy and course content while also preparing students for criminal justice careers (Farnworth et al 1998;Mackey, Courtright and Packard 2006;Payne and Chappell 2008).…”

Attitudes about rehabilitating sex offenders: Demographic, victimization, and community-level influences

“…Research showed that some sex offender treatment programs have a very high success rate (Beech & Ford, 2006), and successful treatment clearly means lower recidivism (DeMichele, Payne, & Button, 2008). Some research showed that the public is rehabilitative for some types of offenders and in some circumstances (Applegate et al, 2002;Mackey & Courtright, 2000;Mackey, Courtright, & Packard, 2006;McCorkle, 1993). Treatment approaches used for sex offenders, however, are specific to sex offenders (Marshall et al, 2008), and it is not clear if the public supports these approaches or if the public knows about the success of these treatment programs.…”

Using Student Samples in Criminological Research

“…In another study, Helms and Holloway (2006) surveyed 958 undergraduates to see how well they understood the Miranda warnings. Studies such as these are justified on the grounds that criminal justice majors will eventually become criminal justice professionals, and if certain attitudes would result in poor job performance, criminal justice professors have information that can be used to better prepare their students for "the real world" (Mackey et al, 2006).…”

“…Payne and Gainey (1999) perceptions about house arrest with electronic monitoring. Mackey, Courtright, and Packard (2006) surveyed 633 students to assess their attitudes about rehabilitation and punishment. Nabors, Dietz, and Jasinski (2006) surveyed 1938 college students to measure their attitudes and beliefs toward domestic violence.…”