NCJ Number
240607
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 3 Issue: 14 Dated: July 2012 Pages: 289-314
Date Published
July 2012
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This research tries to evaluate the effect of social instability on social reaction to deviance using the results of the 2004 Swiss vote on the lifelong detention initiative.
Abstract
The right of initiative offers the opportunity to Swiss citizens to have a direct and prominent influence on penal policy. This research tries to evaluate the effect of social instability on social reaction to deviance using the results of the 2004 Swiss vote on the lifelong detention initiative. The author determined that extreme right-wing political orientation (p less than 0.001) and xenophobic attitudes such as national preference (p less than 0.05) and preference for a closed country (p less than 0.05) explain the support for this measure at the individual level. These results can be interpreted according to the Durkheimian view of punishment, which considers this process as an emotional response in order to defend established norms and values. At the macro-social level, social instability (p less than 0.05) reinforces the positive relationship between xenophobic attitudes (p less than 0.001) and support for lifelong detention. This result supports Young's theory concerning the effect of social instability on social reaction to deviance. Social instability would create a situation in which norms and values are contested. The need to reinforce these norms and values would be fostered by these circumstances. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.