Over-simplification and error in public opinion surveys on capital punishment

Harris, Philip W.

doi:10.1080/07418828600089051

Cited by 63 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Commentators in the early 1970s (Thomas & Foster, 1975;Vidmar & Ellsworth, 1974) argued that an expressed belief in deterrence was a more socially acceptable, "legitimate" rationale for supporting the death penalty than the more emotional, possibly vengeful motive of retribution, and thus was more likely to be a reason people were willing to offer to pollsters. Several scholars have suggested that the norms of social desirability have changed, and that retribution is now an acceptable reason for favoring the death penalty (Fox et al, 1991;Haney, Hurtado, & Vega, 1993; P. W. Harris, 1986;Warr & Stafford, 1984). As support for the death penalty has increased, so has willingness to endorse retribution as a motive.…”

Section: Deterrence and Retributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several writers have discussed the limitations of the single-question pro/con format typically used in general population surveys of death penalty attitudes (P. W. Harris, 1986;Vidmar & Ellsworth, 1974;Wallace, 1989). Answers to this kind of question tell us little about what people think or feel or notice-why they support or oppose capital punishment, what they know about it, how and to whom they believe it should be applied, how this attitude is related to their behavior or to other attitudes-the issues to which the bulk of this article is devoted.2 Still, these soundings of general opinion are important.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty

Ellsworth

Gross

1994

Journal of Social Issues

255

222

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American support for the death penalty has steadily increased since 1966, when opponents outnumbered supporters, and now in the mid‐1990s is at a near record high. Research over the last 20 years has tended to confirm the hypothesis that most people's death penalty attitudes (pro or con) are based on emotion rather than information or rational argument. People feel strongly about the death penalty, know little about it, and feel no need to know more. Factual information (e.g., about deterrence and discrimination) is generally irrelevant to people's attitudes, and they are aware that this is so. Support for the death penalty has risen for most major felonies. Youth is seen as much less of a mitigating factor than it was 35 years ago, but most people still oppose the execution of the mentally retarded. As crime rates have risen despite repeated promises by politicians to “get tough on crime,” the death penalty has become an increasingly prominent issue in electoral politics, suggesting that public opinion should be an issue of central importance for research. We suggest that future research should focus more explicitly on racial attitudes, on comparisons of the death penalty with specific alternatives, and on the emotional aspects of attitudes toward the death penalty.

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Section: Deterrence and Retributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty

Ellsworth

Gross

1994

Journal of Social Issues

255

222

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“…Harris (1986) and Durham, Elrod and Kinkade (1996) also profess to have found overwhelming support for the death penalty as punishment for the crime of murder.…”

Section: Support For the Death Penaltymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often, oversimplification is present in public opinion surveys (Harris, 1986;Keil & Vito, 1991;Vito & Keil, 1998). Keil and Vito (1991) determined that a single measure is unable to effectively determine respondents' complex opinions on the death penalty.…”

Section: Support For the Death Penaltymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…is unable to elicit a detailed response. Often, people are willing to apply the death penalty to some cases and not to others (Harris, 1986). The present study was designed to take this and other findings of the literature review under consideration and offered respondents multiple scenarios of child rape with a range of penalties to rate.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capital? child rape : does public opinion support the use of the death penalty on child rapists?

Chudacoff

Kaye

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"Modern" death qualification: New data on its biasing effects.

Haney

Hurtado

Vega

1994

Law and Human Behavior

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We report on the results of a comprehensive statewide survey of death penalty attitudes in which respondents were categorized in terms of their death-qualified or excludable status under several different Supreme Court doctrines governing the death-qualification process. We found that although changes in public opinion with respect to the death penalty in general have altered the relative sizes of the death-qualified and excludable groups, significant differences remain between them on a number of attitudinal dimensions, no matter which doctrines are employed to define these groups. We discuss the implications of these recent data, especially with respect to the Supreme Court's continued reference to the death-qualified jury as an index of community standards with respect to the death penalty itself.

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Over-simplification and error in public opinion surveys on capital punishment

Cited by 63 publications

References 5 publications

Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty

Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty

Capital? child rape : does public opinion support the use of the death penalty on child rapists?

"Modern" death qualification: New data on its biasing effects.

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