Skip to main content
Log in

Public Opinion on Appropriate Sentences – which Public, which Opinion?

  • Published:
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Since the collapse of the treatment ideology, public opinion has assumed an increasingly central role as a basis for legitimising current crime policy. It is therefore important to be able to capture and describe the public’s views on penal sanctions. Assessments of public opinion regarding appropriate sanctioning levels are largely made on the basis of different types of survey. The problems associated with how such surveys should be implemented in order to produce valid results have been discussed at length. The issue of how the results should be presented in order to provide a representative picture of public opinion have more rarely been explicitly problematized however. This article examines the question of how large a proportion, and which segments, of the public are represented in different descriptions of public opinion that can be produced based on survey results. The issue is examined on the basis of a national Swedish postal survey, in which the respondents were asked to state which sanction should be awarded in relation to six crimes described in the form of vignettes. The survey shows that public opinion on appropriate sanctioning levels is very varied. Summarizing public opinion is thus not a straightforward task. Different descriptions that are similarly representative in relation to one another lead to different conclusions as to what public opinion views as appropriate sanctioning levels. Routine references to public opinion are thus quite arbitrary unless those who refer to a certain description of public opinion also justify why this particular description is relevant.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The term “public opinion” will be used throughout the text even though, as will be shown, one of the central points made by the article is that what “public opinion” actually consists of is something that would more correctly be referred to as “the public’s opinions” or even “the publics’ opinions”.

  2. The respondents were able to choose a maximum of two response alternatives.

  3. In this case, praxis is represented by the assessments made by nine district court judges as to the sentences that would have been awarded for the crimes described in the vignettes.

References

  • Althaus, S. L. (2003). Collective preferences in democratic politics. Opinion surveys and the will of the people. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Balvig, F. (2006). Danskernes syn på straf. http://www.advokatsamfundet.dk/Files/Filer/Advokatsamfundet/Presse/Hovedrapport_final.pdf

  • Balvig, F. (2010). Danskernes retsfölelse og retsförnuft – et forspil. http://www.advokatsamfundet.dk/Default.aspx?ID=11662&M=News&PID=28479&NewsID=13002

  • Balvig, F., Gunnlaugsson, H., Jerre, K., Olaussen, L.-P., & Tham, H. (2010). Den nordiske retsbevidsthedsundersögelse/Attitudes towards punishment in the Nordic countries. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskap, 3, 232–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckett, K. (1997). Making crime pay. Law and order in contemporary American politics. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumstein, A., & Cohen, J. (1980). Sentencing of convicted offenders: An analysis of the public’s view. Law and society, 14(2), 223–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1972). Public opinion does not exist/Den allmänna opinionen finns inte. In P. Bourdieu (1991). Questions de sociologie/Kultur och kritik. pp. 241-254. Göteborg, Sweden: Bokförlaget Daidalos.

  • Boydell, C. L., & Grindstaff, C. F. (1974). Public opinion toward legal sanctions for crimes of violence. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 65(1), 113–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. M., & Sudman, S. (1988). Polls & Surveys. Understanding what they tell us. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burstein, P. (2010). Public opinion, public policy, and democracy. In: K. T. Leicht & J. C. Jenkins (eds.). Handbook of Politics: State and Society in Global Perspective, 63-79. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/rx6343873636063g

  • Casey, S., & Mohr, P. (2005). Law-and-order politics, public-opinion polls and the media. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 12(1), 141–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Converse, P. E. (1990). Popular presentation and the distribution of information. In J. Ferejohn & J. Kuklinski (Eds.), Information and Democratic processes. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, F. T., Link, B. G., Travis, L. F., III, & Wozniak, J. F. (1985). Consensus in crime seriousness: Empirical reality or methodological artefact? Criminology, 23(1), 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Keijser, J. W., & Elffers, H. (2009). Cross-jurisdictional differences in punitive public attitudes? European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 15(1–2), 47–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durham, A. M. (1988). Crime seriousness and punitive severity: an assessment of social attitudes. Justice Quarterly, 5(1), 131–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freiberg, A. (2003). The four pillars of justice: A review essay. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 36(2), 223–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, C. H. (1974). Weighting to adjust for survey nonresponse. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 38(2), 239–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control. Crime and social order in contemporary society. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, D. C. (1969). Crime and punishment: A study in social attitudes. Social forces, 47(4), 391–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. A. (2006). Public opinion versus public judgement about crime: Correcting the comedy of errors. British Journal of Criminology, 46, 131–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. A. (2009). Feeding the wolves: Punitiveness and culture. European Journal of Criminology, 6(6), 517–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hough, M., Roberts, J., Jacobson, J., Bredee, A. & Moon, N. (2008). Attitudes to the sentencing of offences involving death by driving. Research report 5. London: Sentencing advisory panel.

  • Innes, C. A. (1993). Recent public opinion in the United States toward punishment and corrections. The Prison Journal, 73(2), 220–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby, E. J. (1990). The national punishment survey: description and results. In: C. S. Dunn (Ed.) Proceedings of the national conference on punishment for criminal offences. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice and Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Available at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/125499NCJRS.pdf

  • Jacoby, E. J., & Cullen, F. T. (1999). The structure of punishment norms: Applying the Rossi-Berk model. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 89(1), 245–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jerre, K. & Tham, H. (2010). Svenskarnas syn på straff. Rapport 2010:1, Stockholm: Kriminologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Available at: www.criminology.su.se

  • Johnson, B., & Huff, C. H. (1987). Public opinion and criminal justice policy formulation. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 2(6), 118–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krajewski, K. (2009). Punitive attitudes in Poland – The development in the last years. European Journal on Criminal policy and research, 15(1–2), 103–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kury, H., & Ferdinand, T. (1999). Public opinion and punitivity. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 22(3–4), 373–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Listwan, S. J., Jonson, C. L., Cullen, F. T., & Latessa, E. J. (2008). Cracks in the penal harm movement: Evidence from the field. Criminology & Public Policy, 7(3), 423–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattinson, J., & Mirrlees-Black, C. (2000). Attitudes to crime and criminal justice: Findings from the 1998 British Crime Survey. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miethe, T. D. (1982). Public consensus on crime seriousness. Normative structure or methodological artefact? Criminology, 20(3-4), 515–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miethe, T. D. (1984). Types of consensus in public evaluations of crime: An illustration of strategies for measuring “consensus”. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 75(2), 459–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niedermann, A. (2008). The use of surveys as legal evidence. In W. Donsbach & M. W. Traugott (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, B. I., & Shapiro, R. Y. (1992). The rational public: fifty years of trends in Americans’ policy preferences. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J. (2002). Punishment and civilization: Penal tolerance and intolerance in modern society. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. V. (1992). Public opinion, crime and criminal justice. Crime and Justice: A review of research, 16, 99–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. V. (2003). Public opinion and mandatory sentencing: A review of international findings. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30(4), 483–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. V., & Doob, A. N. (1989). Sentencing and public opinion: Taking false shadows for true substances. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 27(3), 491–515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. V., Stalans, L. J., & Indermaur, D. (2002). Penal Populism and Public Opinion: Lessons from Five Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossi, P. H., Berk, R. A., & Campbell, A. (1997). Just punishment: Guideline sentences and normative consensus. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 13(3), 267–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, M. (2012). Democracy and Punishment: A radical view. Theoretical Criminology, 16(1), 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuel, W., & Moulds, E. (1986). The effect of crime severity on perceptions of fair punishment: A California case study. Criminology, 77(3), 931–948.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuman, H. (1986). Ordinary questions, survey questions, and policy questions. Public Opinion Quarterly, 50, 432–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Piquero, A. R. (2010). Manipulating public opinion about trying juveniles as adults: An experimental study. Crime & Delinquency, 56(4), 487–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, C. W., Cage, R. J., & Foster, S. C. (1976). Public opinion on criminal law and legal sanctions: an examination of two conceptual models. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 67(1), 110–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, D. R., & Ragona, A. J. (1987). Popular moderation versus governmental authoritarianism: An interactionist view of public sentiments toward criminal sanctions. Crime & delinquency, 33(2), 337–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomaino, J. (1997). Guess who is coming to dinner? A preliminary model for the satisfaction of public opinion as a legitimate aim in sentencing. Crime, Law & Social Change, 27, 109–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traugott, M. W. (2008). The uses and misuses of polls. In W. Donsbach & M. W. Traugott (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. G., Cullen, F. T., Sundt, J. L., & Applegate, B. K. (1997). Public tolerance for community-based sanctions. The Prison Journal, 77(1), 6–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristina Jerre.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jerre, K. Public Opinion on Appropriate Sentences – which Public, which Opinion?. Eur J Crim Policy Res 19, 31–45 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9176-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9176-0

Keywords

Navigation