Punishing the Wrongdoers: The Effects of Religiosity on Punitive Attitudes toward Adults and Juveniles

ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship between religion and attitudes toward punishment. Numerous studies show that these factors are related, but the relationship is complex. Using data from a 2009 telephone survey of 1,207 U.S. adults, we examine how religiosity affects beliefs about punishment for adults and juveniles. Specifically, this study assesses respondents’ views about the purposes of punishment (i.e., deterrence, concern for victims, and rehabilitation), as well as their support for different punishments for juveniles (i.e., incarceration and rehabilitation). Our findings suggest that religiosity matters in predicting an individual’s punishment philosophy but that the relationship between religiosity and punitiveness is neither linear nor simple. Additionally, the findings presented here suggest that religiosity matters in predicting attitudes toward punishing juveniles but somewhat differently than it matters for predicting adult punishment philosophies. Taken together, the results highlight the importance of considering both religious beliefs and religious behaviors on punishment attitudes toward adults and juveniles. Implications for future research and policy are also discussed.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ Using the ratio of 10 telephone numbers per one completed interview, approximately 20,000 randomly selected household telephone numbers were purchased from Survey Sampling International (SSI), a leader in the research sampling industry. SSI filtered out the inactive numbers, resulting in a sample of 11,767 telephone numbers. The telephone numbers and survey items were programmed into a computer-assisted telephone interviewing software program, which automatically queued and routed the telephone numbers to each call station.

² To obtain a representative sample of survey participants, the person in each household who celebrated the most recent birthday and was at least 18 years old was interviewed.

³ We calculated the response rate by dividing the number of completed interviews (1,207) by the number of valid numbers (3,325). Valid numbers included completed interviews (1,207), refusals (518), incomplete callbacks (1,249), and communication problems (351). Of the remaining telephone numbers, 4,534 were not working numbers and 3,908 were no answer/busy signals. No answer/busy signals were considered ineligible because respondents’ eligibility to participate was unknown. Telephone numbers were dialed a maximum of 8 times.

⁴ Although “Offenders should be punished so the victim can live in safety” loaded highest on Deterrence, this item was combined with Concern for Victims since the wording of the item suggested the victim was an important consideration in the respondent’s agreement/disagreement with that item.

⁵ There were no issues with multicollinearity. Multicollinearity is generally seen as a problem when variance inflation factor scores (VIF) exceed 10 (O’Brien 2007). More conservative estimates suggest that VIFs not exceed 4 (O’Brien 2007) or even 2.50 (Allison 2012). None of the VIF scores were higher than 2.32.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ethan C. Stokes

Ethan C. Stokes is an assistant professor of public relations at the University of Alabama. His research interests include political public relations, political communication, international relations, public diplomacy, and religion. Dr. Stokes has published in Prism: A Journal of Regional Engagement, Romanian Journal of Marketing, Journal of Communication and Religion, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Global Media and Communication, and Church, Communication and Culture. Additionally, since 2014, he has worked on numerous global multimedia projects for the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program.  Mail: 723 13th Street. Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.  Email: [email protected]. Phone: [phone].

Stacy H. Haynes

Stacy H. Haynes is an associate professor of sociology and a research fellow with the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses primarily on issues related to corrections, sentencing, victimization, juvenile justice, and criminal justice policy. Her previous work has examined offenders’ and victims’ experiences in the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to restitution, and the effects of individual and contextual characteristics on sentencing. Her current work examines corrections employees’ perceptions of workplace safety and their concerns about inmates’ physical and mental health. Dr. Haynes has published in Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Criminal Justice Review, Criminology & Public Policy, and Violence and Victims.  Mail: Department of Sociology, P.O. Box C. Mississippi State, MS 39762.  Email: [email protected]. Phone: [phone].

Amy M. Burdette

Amy M. Burdette is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Florida State University. Her research has examined social variations in health at virtually every stage of the lifecycle from birth to old age. Much of her research has paid special attention to disadvantaged populations. Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly outlets including the American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.  Mail: Bellamy Building 0526. Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2270.  Email: [email protected] . Phone: [phone].

David C. May

David C. May is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University. David has authored or coauthored six books and over 80 scholarly articles and book chapters around his research interests of fear of crime, school safety, cybercrime, policing, corrections, military sociology, and human robot interaction. In addition to those works, he is active in research and service in (1) community crime prevention and school safety work, (2) work dealing with reentry and other correctional issues for both officers and inmates, and (3) cybercrime research. He is currently coauthoring books on school safety, bullying, and the school-to-prison pipeline and writing a variety of articles about corrections and cybercrime issues. Mail: Department of Sociology, P.O. Box C. Mississippi State, MS 39762.  Email: [email protected] . Phone: [phone].