Wrongful Convictions and Punitiveness: Measuring Student's Attitudes on Erroneous Felony Convictions
Date of Award
Fall 2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Sociology & Criminal Justice
Program/Concentration
Applied Sociology
Committee Director
Elizabeth Monk-Turner
Committee Member
Kimberly Martin
Committee Member
Donald Smith
Call Number for Print
Special Collections LD4331.S62 L36 2011
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to better understand the attitudes towards wrongful convictions and levels of punitiveness among college students who may work in the criminal justice field in the future. It attempts to replicate Robert Ramsey and James Frank's 2007 study "Wrongful Conviction - Perceptions of Criminal Justice Professionals Regarding the Frequency of Wrongful Conviction and the Extent of System Errors." Instead of surveying criminal justice professionals, this study's sample is on-campus undergraduate classes in criminal justice and political science for the spring 2010 semester at Old Dominion University using a survey that operationalizes punitiveness with a series of questions focused on retribution and incarceration.
Two hypotheses: Students planning on becoming defense attorneys will perceive wrongful felony convictions to occur less often than their professional counterparts and Students planning on becoming prosecutors will perceive system errors to occur less often than their professional counterparts, could not be tested by the current study. However, hypothesis one, "Students planning on becoming law enforcement officers will perceive system errors to occur less often than their professional counterparts", was not supported. Also, the findings of the current study suggest that political affiliation and class standing are the main predictors of level of punitiveness. The respondent's year in school (ex. freshman, sophomore, etc.) was found to significantly influence one's punitiveness: as education rises, level of punitiveness decreases.
Rights
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DOI
10.25777/nw4r-da08
Recommended Citation
Lancaster, Shayna.
"Wrongful Convictions and Punitiveness: Measuring Student's Attitudes on Erroneous Felony Convictions"
(2011). Master of Arts (MA), Thesis, Sociology & Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/nw4r-da08
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds/89