Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: A large literature considers the mid-century a key turning point in punitive public opinion in the U.S. This article examines racial and geographic heterogeneity in changing public opinion during the mid-century using data on punitiveness from as early as 1953. I find that the punitive turn is characterized by attitude divergence between Black and White people, and that the attitudes of White Southerners grew more punitive than Whites in the non-South from before to after the turn. Structural break tests identify 1967 as the most likely turning point, and identify White people and the South as the dominant sources of racial and regional divergence. Heterogeneity in partisanship and responsiveness to regional violent crime support are consistent with the idea that crime rates themselves were meaningful in punitive attitude formation only insofar as they were mediated by additional political and social political forces.
DOI: 10.1017/rep.2024.26
Author: Adriane Fresh
Institution: Duke University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W4405334576