Citation

Durham AM. J. Crim. Justice 1989; 17(2): 75-85.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(89)90001-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The emergence of the justice model as a basis for sentencing policy has raised a number of important issues. For instance, although the model generally posits that the severity of sentences ought to be proportional to the seriousness of offenses, a legitimate metric for the establishment of such a sentencing scheme has yet to be developed. The use of public attitudes toward both crime seriousness and appropriate punishment may provide the basis for such a system. Given the potential impact of such attitudes on the lives of convicted offenders, it is critical that care be exercised in the measurement of public sentiments. This article describes the results of an effort to assess the effects of open-ended versus closed-ended question formats on judgments of the kind and amount of punishment appropriate for various kinds of offenses. The results suggest that question type may indeed have an effect on the character of the punishment identified as appropriate by respondents.