TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1979//
TI  - Changing Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment
JO  - Social forces
A1  - Rankin, J. H.
SP  - 194
EP  - 211
VL  - 58
IS  - 1
N2  - 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.     <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0037-7732
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -