“…But, as Jacobs and Carmichael () argue, conservatives’ and liberals’ diverging views on the causes of criminal behavior may be especially important for understanding the association between political ideology and concerns about crime. Liberals are more likely than conservatives to attribute crime to structural forces that are beyond the control of the individual, such as poverty, racism, a violent home life, peer group influence, and limited educational and employment opportunities (Boots and Cochran, ; Cochran, Boots, and Chamlin, ; Unnever et al., ), and those situational attributions foster a less punitive reaction and promote greater optimism about the benefits of rehabilitation and resocialization (Cochran, Boots, and Chamlin, ; Cochran, Boots, and Heide, ; Unnever et al., ). Conservatives, by contrast, are more likely to view criminals as autonomous agents who are unfettered by such structural forces, leading them to attribute criminal behavior to the offender's personal qualities, such as laziness, bad character, and a lack of self‐control, internal attributions that foster a more punitive and less rehabilitative approach to punishment.…”