Belief in Redeemability and Punitive Public Opinion: “Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal” Revisited
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-3-2020
Publication Title
Criminal Justice & Behavior
DOI
10.1177/0093854820913585
ISSN
1552-3594
Abstract
In 2009, Maruna and King presented results from a British survey showing that the public’s belief in the redeemability of people who committed offenses curbed their level of punitiveness. Based on a 2017 national survey in the United States (n = 1,000), the current study confirms that redeemability is negatively related to punitive attitudes. In addition, the analyses reveal that this belief predicts support for rehabilitation and specific inclusionary policies (i.e., ban-the-box in employment, expungement of criminal records, and voting rights for people with a felony conviction). Findings regarding measures for punishment and rehabilitation were confirmed by a 2019 Mechanical Turk (MTurk) survey. These results suggest that beliefs about capacity for change among people who committed offenses are key to understanding crime-control public policy.
Recommended Citation
Burton, Alexander L., Francis T. Cullen, Velmer S. Burton Jr., Amanda Graham, Leah C. Butler, Angela J. Thielo.
2020.
"Belief in Redeemability and Punitive Public Opinion: “Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal” Revisited."
Criminal Justice & Behavior, 47 (6): 712-732 Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
doi: 10.1177/0093854820913585
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/crimjust-criminology-facpubs/270
Copyright
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