Contextual Punitiveness: Gender-based and Racial Variation in Support for Harsh Punishments Across the United States

• In Event: 174 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Race, Class, Gender and Crime

Abstract

Variation in support for punitive responses to crime like mandatory minimum sentences and capital punishment has been observed according to race and gender, as well as several contextual characteristics. Using data from the General Social Survey, this paper considers differences in attitudes about punishment—as measured as support for the death penalty and support for harsh courts—among blacks and whites, and men and women, as well as how these differences vary according to three county-level characteristics: crime rates, racial composition (percent black), and black-to-white and male-to-female income ratios. Preliminary analysis with respect to support for the death penalty indicates that the race and gender gaps in attitudes about punishment differ according to context. For example, counties with higher violent crime arrest rates are associated with lower support for the death penalty among black men, yielding a smaller punitiveness gap between black men and black women and a larger gap between black men and white men and women.

Author

• Erin Carll, University of Washington