Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-3-2020
Publication Title
Criminal Justice and Behavior
Volume
47
Issue
6
First Page
712
Last Page
732
Abstract
In 2009, Maruna and King presented results from a British survey showing that the public’s belief in the redeemability of people who committed offenses curbed their level of punitiveness. Based on a 2017 national survey in the United States (n = 1,000), the current study confirms that redeemability is negatively related to punitive attitudes. In addition, the analyses reveal that this belief predicts support for rehabilitation and specific inclusionary policies (i.e., ban-the-box in employment, expungement of criminal records, and voting rights for people with a felony conviction). Findings regarding measures for punishment and rehabilitation were confirmed by a 2019 Mechanical Turk (MTurk) survey. These results suggest that beliefs about capacity for change among people who committed offenses are key to understanding crime-control public policy.
Recommended Citation
Burton, A. L.*, Cullen, F. T., Burton, V. S., Jr., Graham, A.., Butler, L. C., & Thielo, A. J. (2020). Belief in redeemability and punitive public opinion: “Once a Criminal Always a Criminal” revisited. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47, 712–732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820913585
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Sage in Criminal Justice and Behavior on May 3, 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820913585
Reuse restricted to noncommercial and no derivative uses.
Copyright held by authors.