Attitudes of US Voters Toward Nonserious Offenders and Alternatives to Incarceration

• NCJ Number: 233450
• Author(s): Christopher Hartney; Susan Marchionna
• Date Published: June 2009
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: NCCD FOCUS, June 2009

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of a 2009 national public opinion poll designed to determine American voter attitudes toward the Nation's response to nonviolent, nonserious crime.

Abstract

The poll showed that significant majorities of respondents favored using sentences other than incarceration for responding to nonserious crime. Respondents cited a variety of reasons that they believed justify sending fewer people to prison or jail, including cost, overcrowding, the ability of proven alternatives to reduce crime, and the fairness of making the punishment fit the crime. The majority of U.S. adults believed that some crimes for which offenders are currently incarcerated should have been sentenced to community-based supervision and treatment. Seventy-seven percent of adults believed that the most appropriate sentence for nonviolent, nonserious offenders is supervised probation, restitution, community service, and/or rehabilitative services. Only if an offender fails to respond appropriately to these approaches should prison or jail be an option. Seventy-seven percent of respondents believed alternatives to incarceration do not decrease public safety. Fifty-five percent believed alternatives to prison or jail decrease costs to State and local governments, and 45 percent of respondents believed alternatives to incarceration are more effective than prison or jail in reducing recidivism, compared to 38 percent of respondents who believed otherwise. The survey of likely voters was conducted by telephone according to a methodology approved by the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Zogby International, which conducted the survey, uses validated weighting and sampling procedures. The sample size was 1,049 interviews drawn randomly, with approximately 34 questions asked. As many as six calls were made to reach a sampled telephone number. The survey questions are listed, and data on responses to each question are provided. Extensive graphic and tabular data and 11 notes