Retributive Prejudice: The Relationship Between Racial Threat and Punitive Orientation

• In Event: Attitudes About Punishment

Abstract

Group threat theory, as proposed by Blumer (1958), argued that prejudice occurs when there is a feeling of superiority, alienation, privilege, and fear between an in-group and out-group. Several studies have examined the relationship between fear and prejudice at one point in time using group threat as a theoretical guideline. This current study seeks to examine Blumer’s theory over a longer period of time. Using the General Social Survey (GSS), we will examine the relationship between prejudice and punitiveness across multiple time points. It is hypothesized that punitiveness is likely to increase as one becomes more prejudiced given that minority groups are more likely to be subject to criminal justice sanctions. As an out-group becomes more of a threat, the in-group will prefer harsher sanctions to reduce the threat. The GSS will be used in this study to tap multiple measures of Blumer’s theory to examine prejudice and how it influences individual perceptions.

Authors

• Kathleen Frey, University of Maryland, College Park

• Omi Hodwitz, University of Maryland, College Park