NCJ Number
94269
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1984) Pages: 95-111
Date Published
1984
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Social scientists and social commentators are often quick to impute motives to those who support capital punishment, but there is in fact little direct evidence on public goals of punishement or the way in which these goals influence public support for capital punishment.
Abstract
In a sample survey of Seattle residents, respondents were most likely to choose retribution as the primary purpose of punishment, followed by incapacitation, rehabilitation, specific and general deterrence, and normative validation. A preference for retribution increases dramatically with age, but declines with educational attainment. Proponents of retribution and normative validation are most likely to favor the death penalty, but, contrary to common assumption, retributivists constitute only a minority of those who support capital punishment. (Author abstract)