Citation

Rankin JH. Soc. Forces 1979; 58(1): 194-211.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Social Forces Journal, Publisher University of North Carolina Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

NORC surveys (1972-76) and data on official violent crime rates reveal a strong, positive, nonlinear relation between public support for capital punishment and crime rates across regions of the U.S. This investigation places the increase in support for the death penalty within the context of a more general law-and-order syndrome which intensified approximately three years after relatively large increases in the violent crime rate. Because crime in the streets was an issue in the 1968 elections, concern about crime intensified, with a resultant hardening of attitudes toward criminals and a greater demand for harsh penalties. Personality characteristics and personal victimizations, however, are not significant antecedents of change in death penalty attitudes.

Language: en