The State of Redemption

1
The State of Redemption

• Do we believe that offenders can changeand does
  it matter?

Shadd Maruna University of Sheffield 11 October
2006
2
Cambridge University Public Opinion Project (or
C U Pop)
Postal survey (N940) to test correlates of
punitive attitudes among members of the public in
the east of England
Intensive interviewing of two, small, matched
samples (N20 and 20) of respondents scoring very
high and very low on punitiveness (over one SD
over the mean)
Experimenting with emotions Manipulating
emotional conditions and re-testing
punitiveness
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Belief in Redeemability Scale

• Alpha .64
• Most offenders can go on to lead productive lives
  with help and hard work.
• Even the worst offenders can grow out of criminal
  behaviour.
• (R) Most offenders really have little hope of
  changing for the better.
• (R) Some offenders are so damaged that they can
  never lead productive lives.

4
Who is this Public?

• Random samples of postal addresses in 6 diverse
  communities (Bishops Stortford, Great Yarmouth,
  Kings Lynn, Knightsbridge, Stapleford, Tower
  Hamlets)
• 51 consider themselves politically conservative.
• 58 are female.
• 68 have not completed a university degree.
• 41 describe the household they were raised in as
  working class
• 72 report their household income as under
  40,000
• 43 are between the ages of 45 and 64.
  
  
  32 are between the
  ages of 25 and 44
  14 are between 65 and 74.
• 6 report offenses more serious than a speeding
  violation.

5
Redeemability Beliefs (Alpha .77)

• 86 agree that Most offenders can go on to lead
  productive lives with help and hard work
• 77 agree that Even the worst offenders can grow
  out of criminal behaviour.
• 68 DISagree that Most offenders really have
  little hope of changing for the better (R)
• But
• 67 agree that Some offenders are so damaged
  that they can never lead productive lives

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(No Transcript)
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Does this public believe offenders can change?

• Yes, slightly
• But, does it matter?

8
Measuring Punitiveness Beyond Retributivism
versus Rehabilitation

• Previous definitions of Punitiveness
• punitive refers to actionsthat seek
  relatively immediate retribution toward those
  responsible for a social problem (Gault
  Sabini, 2000 499)
• a relatively broad, normative orientation toward
  retribution society is being too soft on
  criminals. (Duffee Ritti 1977 p. 453)
• unlike justice, the desire for vengeance-driven
  punishment is personal. Its purpose is not to
  restore equity but to give the avenger relief
  from a feeling of discomfort (often anger). It
  is not necessarily rational. (Ho et al 2002
  375)
• that rehabilitation does not work, and that
  criminals should be punished (Langworthy
  Whitehead, 1986 p.575)

9
We define punitiveness as

• The degree of ones support for harsh sanctions
  for offenders with particular attention to
• Duration (when offenders are punished they dont
  get enough time),
• Prevalence (too many offenders get off) and,
• Intensity (if offenders do get time, it is easy
  time). 

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Punitiveness Scale Alpha.82

• Id consider volunteering my time or donating
  money to an organisation that supported
  toughening the sentencing laws in the UK.
• We should bring back the death penalty for
  serious crimes.
• With most offenders, we need to condemn more and
  understand less.
• My general view towards offenders is that they
  should be treated harshly.
• (R) Prisoners should have access to televisions
  or gym facilities.
• (R) If prison has to be used, it should be used
  sparingly and only as a last option.
• (R) Id consider volunteering my time or donating
  money to an organisation that supported
  alternatives to prison.
• (R) Probation or a community sentence (rather
  than prison) is appropriate for a person found
  guilty of burglary for the second time.

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How punitive is this public?

• 54 want the death penalty back.
• 36 would consider volunteering for an
  organisation that supported toughening the
  sentencing laws in the UK.
• 35 agree with most offenders, we need to
  condemn more and understand less.
• 36 would consider volunteering for an
  organisation that supported alternatives to
  prison.
• 47 agree that if prison has to be used, it
  should be used sparingly and only as a last
  option. Need to give distribution of punitive
  scores.

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Distribution of punitiveness
x3.6, s.d. 1, range 1-6 18.7 of the
sample scored one s.d. below the mean 16.5 of
the sample scored one s.d. above the mean 
13
Previous Findings on Punitiveness
See esp. Allen, 2002, Rethinking Crime and
Punishment findings

• Women are less punitive in their views than men.
• People in lower social classes have more punitive
  attitudes than those in class A/B.
• The most punitive demographic subgroups in the UK
  are older, lower class and conservative.
• Education is the best predictor of punitiveness
  (the more educ, the less punitive)

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Instrumental Explanations

• Previous Victimisation Experiences
• Fear of Crime
• Crime Salience (i.e. subjective sense that crime
  is a serious problem in the UK)
• Instrumental predictors do not relate
  consistently to punitiveness (Baron Hartnagel,
  1996 Tyler Boeckman, 1997 Vikki Wood, 2002)

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Beliefs About the Nature of Crime

• George B. Vold (1958 258) There is an obvious
  and logical interdependence between what is done
  about crime and what is assumed to be the reason
  for or explanation of criminality.

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Positivists Versus Classicists

• Cullen and colleagues (1985) suggest two primary
  orientations toward crime
• Classical (crime as a choice)
• Positivist (crime as the product of social
  forces)
• Those who hold a classical understanding of crime
  causation and hence believe that crime flourishes
  because it is a rational, utilitarian enterprise
  will be more punitive than those positivists
  who see crime as a manifestation of social
  constraint and social ills

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Where does redeemability fit in?

• Heiders (1958) Dispositional Attributions
  (internal) vs. Situational Attributions
  (external)
• Weiner (1972, 1974) 2-dimensional model of
  attributions
• The Locus of control (Internal-External)
  dimension has more inconsistent correlates than
  do stability or globality, it is less reliably
  assessed and there are theoretical grounds for
  doubting that it has a direct impact on
  expectations per se (Peterson, 2000 48 see
  also Weiner and Graham 1999 Wilson and Linville
  1985).

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Criminal Attribution Scale (Alpha .69)

• 1.(R) Crime is mostly the product of a persons
  circumstances and social context.
• 2.Crime is a choice a persons social
  circumstances arent to blame.
• 3.People commit crime because they want to.
• 4. (R) Some people are predisposed to crime due
  to the way they were born or raised.

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Predictors of Punitive Attitudes
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Four Camps
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Beyond Promoting Positivism

• A sizable proportion of the population agrees
  that crime is not a free choice and so
  sympathises with offenders, but still wants them
  kept away from them at all costs on the
  assumption that they are so damaged that they are
  now dangerous.

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Highly Punitive Case Example

• SM Does prison work as a penalty?
• What I would like to see is the old type prison
  where there was bread and water, I just think
  that todays prison is like a holiday camp to
  them. I dont see it as a deterrent even if they
  go to prison. I dont really know what like
  Holloway and all those are, but I think these
  people really need to have everything taken away
  from them. Bring back boot camp.

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Positivist Explanation for Crime

• R Weve got so many young, unmarried mothers
  who have children and they swear and you see them
  walking down the streetsthey dont have them for
  the right reasons. We just had a collection box
  stolen out of the shop by a group of 11-15 year
  olds. Theyre known as the evil six. They
  just like get into everything. Into every shop,
  they plague everyone theyre rude to everybody.
  Theyll go straight thru a shop and use a toilet
  or take a handbag or whatever. They constantly
  plague the town and you know they all come from
  broken homes or one parent families.

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Case study in (non) redeemability

• SM Can you think of any offenders you know
  personally?
• R Yeah, hes a young boy who is in my sons
  class. He had a habit of stealing cars before he
  could drive with his friends and he nearly killed
  his self in an accident. But, it dont seem to
  teach him anything. I dont know if hes out of
  hospital. His leg was broke, he was in no
  danger, but he comes from a broken home, he
  doesnt seem to learn by it.
• SM What would help in his particular situation?
• R When he was a little boy, I think he just
  wanted his parents to be there for him and they
  were doing their own thing. He didnt want it to
  be the way it was like hed go on holiday with us
  and hed end up banging all the food machines.
  He would from the age of 4 or 5 he would just cry
  and say he didnt want to be like that, but his
  brothers are like that and hes just fell into
  that.

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• SM Is he trapped do you think? Does he have a
  chance?
• R I dont think hes got a chance, no. He
  dont know any different because hes the
  youngest one of, I think hes got 2 or 3 brothers
  all by different fathers like and I dont think
  he stands a chance now. I dont think theres
  any hope for him.
• SM Whats the best the system can do in his
  case?
• R I dont know. I spoke to the ambulance
  driver that picked him up and he just wanted to
  take him in a field and smack him because hes
  angry with him because we know him. But, I dont
  know what the system can do for him to be quite
  honest. I think he is beyond that. He hasnt
  done - as far as I know he hasnt stole from
  shops, he just has this fascination with cars.
  He just wants speed.

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But where do we get our redeemability beliefs?

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Redeemability Starts at Home

• Well you do see kids that are a bit rude hanging
  around street corners and, you know, breaking in
  cars, and no respect, the whole, general, its
  there. But, I think to an extent that always has
  been. I dont, I think its just a bit of peer
  pressure, Im assuming. I think, actually that
  they do grow out of it. I think my brothers, as
  teenagers, just hideous, vile kids. they grew
  out of it. I also had a nasty cousin horrible,
  horrible little boy. Lovely now. So, in the
  last five years hes suddenly got a job and hes
  fantastic. I really thought he was an absolute
  no-hoper. (Female, 41 yrs, Tower Hamlet).