NCJ Number
172115
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 77 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 6-16
Date Published
1997
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A factorial design survey of 237 residents of Hamilton County (Ohio) gathered information on public attitudes toward community-based corrections.
Abstract
The research sought to determine not only whether participants preferred such sanctions, but also whether they tolerated them in the sense of regarding them as acceptable. Each participant rated one of four vignettes; each vignette depicted one of two types of burglary or one of two types of robbery. The offense and offender characteristics in each vignette were randomly selected. Results revealed that a slight majority of the participants favored a sentence involving either prison or shock incarceration. Nevertheless, between 42.1 percent and 48.3 percent of the participants preferred a community-based sanction, and between 64.8 percent and 73.3 percent of the participants were willing to tolerate such an option. However, little support existed for sanctions that did not involve the close supervision of the offender. Findings indicated that community-based sanctions will be embraced by the public only to the extent that a persuasive case can be made that such a sanction punishes, restrains, and changes offenders. Tables, notes, appended chart showing offender and offense characteristics, and 50 references (Author abstract modified)