The Influence of Media on Penal Attitudes

Abstract

This study examines the influence of crime-related media consumption on individuals’ perceptions of the most important purpose of criminal sentencing, using a statewide survey of 4,245 California residents. Consumption of various forms of crime-related media was regressed on four goals of criminal sentencing (punishment, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation) using multinomial logistic regression. The results suggest that consumption of television news and crime-based reality programs increased the odds of selecting punishment as the most important goal of criminal sentencing as opposed to rehabilitation. The more hours of television watched, irrespective of genre, the more likely respondents were to support punishment, deterrence, or incapacitation rather than rehabilitation. These results hold even after controlling for various sociodemographic characteristics and experiences with crime such as fear, past victimization, and prior arrests.

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