At the heart of sentencing: exploring whether more compassionate delivery of sentencing remarks increases public concern for people who offend.

Compassion has the capacity to change how we think and feel about people who offend, enabling us to understand individual and systemic causes of criminality and whether, and in what circumstances, desistance is possible. Across two experiments, our research examined whether a more compassionate sentencing delivery, firstly, in written sentencing remarks and, secondly, in videoed sentencing remarks, stimulated more concern for sentenced offenders amongst members of the Australian public. Our results suggest that it is possible to alter the features of a written or orally-delivered sentence, so that it is recognisably more compassionate. Further, engagement with compassion-enhanced sentencing remarks altered criminal justice spending preferences, reducing the proportion of the criminal justice budget that the public believed should be spent on imprisonment and increasing that to be spent on rehabilitation.

Is compassion the flip side of punitiveness? Incorporating COVID-19 crisis in experimental vignettes to examine support for visitation and vaccination in prison.

Objectives: The public hold both punitive and pragmatic attitudes toward prison policy. Yet it is unclear whether the public supports compassionate efforts that do not directly relate to recidivism. This study explores the role of exclusionary symbolic aims (prioritizing non-prisoner groups), inclusionary symbolic aims (minimizing health risk for the vulnerable), and cost (taxes). Methods: Using a quota-based national sample fielded in spring 2021 (N=1260), we embedded two experimental vignettes to assess support for vaccination priorities and personal protective equipment (PPE) for in-person visitation. We also examine respondent experiences (e.g., exposure to COVID-19, vaccine status, personal or vicarious arrest) and beliefs (e.g., political ideology, racial resentment, stigma). Results: Consistent with dominant exclusionary symbolic aims, respondents showed strong preferences for non-prisoner groups in facilitating safe in-person visits (in long-term care facilities) and vaccine priorities (to prison guards). Inclusionary symbolic aims were less clear when examining risk from vaccine side effects or helping vulnerable populations (the elderly). High cost reduced support for compassionate policy. Conclusions: Public support for policies aimed at maintaining the health of individuals who are incarcerated may be motivated by similar factors as punishment preferences. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11292-022-09523-z.

Public Opinion About #MeToo Victims and Offenders: A Nationwide Experiment.

During the #MeToo movement, many sexual assault survivors are discredited because of their delay in disclosure or failure to report to the police. The current study investigates which factors influence public opinion towards sexual assault victims and offenders by analyzing data from a national factorial survey. Results show disclosing the offense immediately to the public, reporting to the police, and having a witness are positively related to punitive attitudes towards the offender, via increased perceived credibility of the victim. The results highlight the importance of understanding extralegal factors in shaping stereotypic views about sexual assault in the #MeToo era.

Modeling Determinants of Individual Punitiveness in a Late Modern Perspective: Data from Japan.

There is a growing trend to both theoretically and empirically explain public punitiveness from a general social theory of late modernity. Yet, research which has tested the generalizability of this perspective regarding societies other than Western ones remains rare. Relying on a theoretical perspective and empirical findings, this study aimed to explore whether the hypothetical model, which assumes that abstract late modern anxieties (economic anxiety and identity anxiety) affect punitiveness via more tangible fears and negative attitudes toward others in terms of fear of crime, xenophobic attitudes, and social dominance orientation (SDO). The study considered whether this model can be applied to Japanese society, which is experiencing drastic social, economic, and political transformations. Accordingly, data from a nationwide Japanese sample was analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that all of the hypothesized paths had significant relations, except for a path between xenophobic attitudes and fear of crime, which generally supported the hypothetical model. Moreover, it was shown that all of the variables have a significant total effect on punitiveness. The results were discussed in light of the social circumstances of Japan and recommendations for further international comparative research were made. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11417-020-09338-9.

Cycles of invisibility: The limits of transparency in dealing with scientific misconduct.

Sanctions for plagiarism, falsification and fabrication in research are primarily symbolic. This paper investigates sanctions for scientific misconduct and their preceding investigation processes as visible and legitimate symbols. Using three different data sources (retraction notices, expert interviews, and a survey of scientists), we show that sanctions for scientific misconduct operate within a cycle of visibility, in which sanctions are highly visible, while investigation and decision-making procedures remain mostly invisible. This corresponds to high levels of acceptance of sanctions in the scientific community, but a low acceptance of the respective authorities. Such a punitiveness in turn exacerbates confidentiality concerns, so that authorities become even more secretive. We argue that punitiveness towards scientific misconduct is driven by such a cycle of invisibility.

Examining College Student Perceptions of Criminal Justice Outcomes Among Persons With Mental Illness.

An extensive body of literature has documented punitive responses to mental illness in the United States that have coalesced around arrest and incarceration. Similarly, studies have highlighted the lack of treatment options available to persons with mental illness, as well as the fact the persons with mental illness are particularly susceptible to offering false confessions. Research on perceptions of these realities is, however, comparatively limited. This study contributes to the literature through the use of survey methodology to examine the perceptions of college students at a mid-sized university in the Southeastern United States as they relate to criminal justice outcomes among persons with mental illness. Results of multinomial regression models suggest that these perceptions are shaped by factors such as political orientation, semester standing, and punitiveness.

Assessing hostility in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is a disease that can adversely affect patients' psychology. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether COPD patients feel increased hostility, and if hostility is associated with socio-economic factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 203 COPD patients in primary health care services in Greece, using the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire HDHQ. Patient demographics, smoking habits, body mass index (BMI) and disease grade were also recorded. The results showed significant differences between males and females, with women exhibiting higher hostility (p = 0.004). Age correlates negatively with hostility, with younger patients showing higher values. Patients who continue to smoke (p = 0.005), and those in a very poor financial situation, have a much higher level of hostility. Regarding family status, married patients show the least hostility. In patients with very severe COPD and those with low education (p = 0.035) there is a high level of self-criticism. In conclusion, patients with COPD, still smokers, single, low-income and low-educated, especially female patients, have a higher risk of developing hostility. These findings suggest a need for further research in order to clarify the complexity of the different risk factors.

Aproximación al análisis de las actitudes punitivas / An approach to the analysis of punitive attitudes / Abordagem à análise das atitudes punitivas

Resumen El objeto de estudio son las actitudes punitivas de la población. Se ha realizado una revisión de la literatura nacional e internacional sobre esta materia, a través de una búsqueda selectiva de estudios que han analizado las actitudes de la población hacia el castigo y el funcionamiento del sistema de justicia penal, como diseño metodológico. A partir del análisis documental se ha elaborado una síntesis de los rasgos más característicos de las actitudes punitivas y las diferentes metodologías utilizadas para su estudio. Los resultados ponen de relieve la complejidad de las actitudes y la necesidad de perfeccionar y combinar diferentes metodologías en el estudio de estas.

Abstract The object of study are the population's punitive attitudes. A review of the national and international literature on this subject has been carried out through a selective search of studies having analyzed the attitudes of the population towards punishment, and the functioning of the criminal justice system as a methodological design. From the documentary analysis, a synthesis of the most characteristic features of the punitive attitudes, as well as the different methodologies used for their study having been elaborated. The results contribute to highlighting the complexity of attitudes and the need to perfecting and combining different methodologies in their study.

Resumo O objeto do estudo é as atitudes punitivas da população. Uma revisão da literatura nacional e internacional foi feita nesta matéria, através de uma busca seletiva dos estudos que analisaram as atitudes da população para a punição, e a operação do sistema da justiça penal, como o projeto metodológico. Da análise documental, uma síntese das características mais próprias das atitudes punitivas e das metodologias diferentes usadas para seu estudo foi elaborada. Os resultados destacam a complexidade das atitudes e da necessidade para aperfeiçoar e combinar metodologias diferentes no estudo destas.

The Punitive Woman? Gender Differences in Public Attitudes Toward Parole Among an Australian Sample.

Research exploring gender differences in public attitudes toward parole is limited, despite a large body of literature showing that men and women have diverging views on other criminal justice issues, including capital punishment and offender rehabilitation and treatment. Drawing on an Australian national survey of community views on parole, the current study examines whether men and women differ in their support for the release of prisoners on parole. The results indicate that gender does predict parole attitudes, with Australian women significantly more likely to hold nonsupportive views on parole than Australian men. The results also reveal that women are more likely to take a neutral position toward parole, rather than supporting it. Together, these findings indicate there may be something about being a woman in Australia that prevents one from being willing to support the early release of prisoners. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Support for Restorative Justice in a Sample of U.S. University Students.

Theories of restorative justice suggest that the practice works best when offenders are enmeshed in multiple interdependencies or attachments to others and belong to a culture that facilitates communitarianism instead of individualism. Restorative justice principles and practices are thus believed to be incongruent with the individualistic culture and legal system of the United States, especially compared with that of nations like Australia and Japan. Using a nonprobability convenience sample of students enrolled in a large public university in the United States, our study examines attitudes toward restorative justice as a fair and just process for reintegrating offenders and meeting the needs of victims. Results indicate that our sample holds less punitive attitudes than citizens in either Australia or Japan. Our findings are discussed in light of recent policy shifts in the United States that suggest a concerted move toward decarceration following the 2008 recession.