2014
DOI: 10.1177/0734016814529968
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American Public Opinion About Prisons

Abstract: Politicians in the United States frequently cite public anger when they attack “country-club” conditions in prisons. Despite the ubiquity of this rhetoric, it is backed by limited empirical support. Few studies measure American citizens’ attitudes toward prison conditions, and even fewer studies do so with data from random samples of the population. To address this limitation in our knowledge, I measure public perceptions of life in prison and opinions about the appropriate severity of punishment in prison wit… Show more

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Cited by 32 publications
(13 citation statements)
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“…Although there was no 'control' group of non-gamers, in line with other studies (e.g. Adriaenssen and Aertsen, 2015;Pratt and Clark, 2005;Wozniak, 2014), there was no evidence of a clamour for harsher prison conditions. Views expressed at interview were, of course, much more complex than survey results suggested.…”
Section: Digital Mediation Of Cultural and Political Valuessupporting
confidence: 77%
“…Although there was no 'control' group of non-gamers, in line with other studies (e.g. Adriaenssen and Aertsen, 2015;Pratt and Clark, 2005;Wozniak, 2014), there was no evidence of a clamour for harsher prison conditions. Views expressed at interview were, of course, much more complex than survey results suggested.…”
Section: Digital Mediation Of Cultural and Political Valuessupporting
confidence: 77%
“…With regard to releasing incarcerated individuals in the face of COVID-19, one fundamental issue is that the public knows very little about the day-to-day functioning of the criminal justice system (Pickett et al 2015), and very little about conditions inside prisons (Wozniak 2014). In light of this reality, we are left with several important questions.…”
Section: The Role Of Information Exposurementioning
confidence: 99%
“…The findings of this study have implications for the politics of crime and punishment. In the heyday of ''tough on crime'' policy making during the 1980s and 1990s, politicians and pundits in the United States frequently decried ''country club conditions'' in prisons (see Wozniak, 2014 for a review). Even though that specific rhetoric has waned somewhat in recent years, politicians' fear of being labeled ''soft on crime'' has not entirely vanished, and political attack ads centered on criminal justice issues are still fielded in contemporary elections (Litton, 2015;Schwartzapel & Keller, 2015).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Furthermore, Simon (2014) argues that U.S. courts are beginning to craft contemporary jurisprudence that acknowledges and confronts the (negative) implications of prison conditions for inmates' constitutional rights. In spite of these criticisms, (Wozniak, 2014) found that a plurality of American respondents believe that the living environment in prisons is ''not harsh enough.'' We do not yet know if this perception contributes to Americans' punitive attitudes about other facets of the justice system as well.…”
Section: Perceptions Of Prison and Penal Escalationmentioning
confidence: 99%