The effect of message frames on public attitudes toward criminal justice reform for nonviolent offenses

In recent years, the rhetoric surrounding criminal justice policy has increasingly emphasized reform, rather than being “tough on crime.” Although this change in rhetoric is aimed at building public support for reform, little is known about its efficacy. To test the efficacy of reform rhetoric, I co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gottlieb, Aaron (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2017, Volume: 63, Issue: 5, Pages: 636-656
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
Criminal justice policy
Gefängnis
Incarceration
Public opinion
Punishment
Reform
Sentencing
Strafzumessung
Öffentliche Meinung
Description
Summary:In recent years, the rhetoric surrounding criminal justice policy has increasingly emphasized reform, rather than being “tough on crime.” Although this change in rhetoric is aimed at building public support for reform, little is known about its efficacy. To test the efficacy of reform rhetoric, I conducted an Internet experiment using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of six message conditions or to a control condition (no message) and then asked their views about eliminating the use of incarceration for select nonviolent offenses. Results from ordinal logistic regression models suggest that message frames that appeal to a respondent’s self-interest or emphasize the unfairness of the punishment (not who is punished) tend to be most effective.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128716687758