Smith, V. L. (1993). When prior knowledge and law collide:
Helping jurors use the law. Law and Human Behavior,
17 (5), 507–536.
Stalans, L. J., & Lurigio, A. J. (1990). Lay and professional
beliefs about crime and criminal sentencing: A need for
theory, perhaps schema theory. Criminal Justice and
Behavior, 17(3), 333–349.PUBLICOPINIONABOUT
SENTENCING ANDINCARCERATION
Two contrasting images of the public have emerged
from the literature on public attitudes toward sen-
tencing: a punitive public that demands long prison
terms and a merciful public that supports commu-
nity-based sanctions after considering the serious-
ness of the offense and the perceived character and
blameworthiness of the offender. Although politi-
cians and the media insist that the public wants to
impose tougher and longer prison sentences, research
shows that public views about appropriate sentences
are much more complex. For example, although the
majority of the public claims courts are too lenient,
research using detailed cases consistently finds that
the public imposes less severe punishment than
judges or sentencing statutes. This disjuncture in
attitudes occurs because the public relies on easily
recalled violent crimes to answer general questions
about its satisfaction with the court’s sentencing.
Moreover, the public wants more severe sentences
for violent offenders but prefers community-based
sanctions that can restore and rehabilitate nonviolent
offenders.
Thus, politicians and scholars must examine how
the public arrives at sentencing attitudes to obtain a
more accurate view of the public’s demands. This
entry describes the findings from numerous studies
that have examined whether public judgments about
appropriate sentences are consistent with sentencing
laws and practices. To fully understand the public’s
conception of justice, this entry examines the infer-
ences and beliefs that contribute to citizens’ views:
their knowledge about sentencing options and pris-
ons, their views of the primary goals of sentencing,
and the effects of context and information on their
decisions.Public Knowledge About
Sentencing, Parole, and Prisons
Misperceptions of criminal justice statistics abound.
The average member of the public tends to underesti-
mate the severity of the sentencing process as well as
the parole system. When asked to estimate the average
sentence for a particular crime, many people provide
a response that is lower than the actual level. This
finding has emerged from research conducted in the
United States, England, Canada, and Australia. The
public also is unaware of which crimes require prison
time and of the minimum or maximum prison time
required by criminal statutes. These underestimates
underlie public attitudes that there should be more
congruency between the assigned sentence and the
actual number of years served. In those countries that
have parole, most people assume that almost all
offenders get parole, when in fact only a small frac-
tion are released from prison early. Although offend-
ers sentenced to life often are released on parole after
serving on average a decade or more in prison, the
public overwhelming agrees that a life sentence
should mean that the offender serves his or her natural
life in prison.
Since only a small percentage of the public has
ever visited a prison, perceptions of prison life tend to
be inaccurate, and the majority of the uninformed
public indicated that prisons are too easy on offenders.
Based on perceived public desires, several states have
reduced many amenities for prisoners. However, when
the public is informed about a variety of amenities and
asked whether each specific amenity should be
retained or eliminated, a different picture of public
attitudes emerges. The majority of the public wants to
retain educational, vocational, and psychological pro-
grams and also supports supervised visits with fami-
lies, telephone calls, and air conditioning. The public
is more selective in providing entertainment and
recreational amenities. About 62% to 75% of the pub-
lic would retain arts and crafts, basic television, bas-
ketball, conjugal visits with spouses, and college
education programs. The majority of the public, how-
ever, supports eliminating boxing or martial arts,
cable television, condoms, cigarettes, and pornogra-
phy, including magazines such as Playboy.The public
supports amenities that have rehabilitation potential or
are useful for managing inmate behavior. The public,
however, does not want prisoners to have amenities658 ———Public Opinion About Sentencing and IncarcerationP-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 658